by K M Roberts
The creek was wider and shallower than the Waters of Estemere, with gentle, pebble-strewn banks, a lush, green bed of moss and algae, and water dotted with pondweed and small, playful fish. It was a start. But even then, with all that, it was still water. Cold and wet. Moving and flowing. And . . . not land.
She dipped a foot in, sucking air through her teeth as she shuddered. Slowly, she lowered her other foot in, wringing her cool and sweat-dampened hands. She closed her eyes and breathed.
Okay, she thought. I’ve done it! I’ve taken the first step.
She was standing in water—water that felt like a mound of ice-cold ants crawling between her toes, but she was doing it!
Daina took another step, then another. The water crept up to her knees.
“Ugh,” she grumbled as another involuntary shiver ran through her. “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine . . .”
She took another step, still wringing her hands. Then another. She was almost to the middle, and the water was almost to her waist.
Eww, it feels like snakes, she thought. I don’t know if I can—
She stepped again but slipped on the slime-covered bed beneath her, crying out, stumbling, then falling backward as her body plunged beneath the water, her face covered by her blonde hair swirling around her, in her eyes and in her mouth. She tried to scream again and sucked in water instead. She panicked, flailing. Her only thought: NNNOOOO!!
Suddenly, the water parted, racing away from her and arcing around and over her head. At once she was sitting on dry land, her arms thrust over her head and her eyes squeezed tightly shut.
Daina risked peeking open an eye.
She risked a breath.
Air. She was breathing air. Sitting on solid ground. The water was surrounding her, mere feet away, like a vibrating bowl, above her like a liquid bridge. Somehow she was holding the water at bay with . . . her hands? Her mind? Her fear?
She carefully and laboriously got to her feet, arms still outstretched, and the water above rose along with her. She took another shaky breath, looking around in awe and fear, to the sides, the shore, overhead.
Was she doing this?
Yes, she was. She had to be.
But how?
The questions, and the sheer absurdity of it all, unleashed a tickle of panic—like a fight-or-flight instinct—playing at the back of her mind. A moment ago the water had been touching her, enveloping her, and that had been nerve-wracking enough. But now it wasn’t, and that was just as alarming.
She scrunched her eyes closed, lowered her hands to her shoulders, then shot them out with a loud, anguished cry. The water around her exploded. Not shooting out like a million raindrops, it simply evaporated in a cloud. WHOOM!
She opened her eyes and ran back to the shore on dry ground, her bare feet throwing pebbles and leaving prints in the dried algae before the creek rushed back to fill in the wide gap. Daina threw herself to the ground, panting.
What the hell just happened? she thought to herself as her eyes darted from river to land to her dry limbs and back. Did I just do that?
She examined her hands.
Wha-what is this? she wondered. And just what the hell am I?
About the author:
K.M. (Kent) Roberts is a writer and blogger with books spanning a wide range of genres in fiction (spiritual suspense to epic fantasy), and non-fiction (world mission discipleship to self-improvement). He lives in the scenic beauty of the Pacific Northwest, currently residing in the picturesque mountains and lakes region of North Idaho with his wife, Cheryl, and two children.
You can find out more about Kent and his books on his website Shadewriter.com, or on his personal blogsite SpiritualDrift.com. You can also find him on Facebook at AuthorKMRoberts, on Instagram, @authorkmroberts, and in the Twitterverse, @AuthorKentR.
Books by Kent Roberts:
Fiction
Drifter Series (Spiritual Suspense)
The Path of Judgment
The Plague of Grace
The Price of Indifference
The Privilege of Sin
The Promises of Faith (future)
Cierran stories (Fantasy)
Sigquaya: The Magic of Water
Tamatulc: The Magic of Fire (coming soon)
Nonfiction
Disciples Unleashed (with Dave Campbell, World Missions Pastor for Real Life Ministries)
These Threads of Faith: a journey of finding my way back to God*
All titles available from Amazon.com
* Titles available only in e-book.