Drowing in the Past

Drowning in the Past
I was sitting on my back porch watching the pool fill with water. After a couple of minutes, I got up to check to see how much more water was needed to finish feeling the pool. As I adjusted the water hose, ripples traveled across the calm water. I looked at my distorted reflection. My face crumpled from the ripples and concern. Waves of worry whirled in my stomach. I walked around the bright blue pool, which would be three feet deep when completely filled. It was close to noon and a beautiful summer day. I knew Marianna and Savion would be expecting the pool to be ready as soon as they walked in the door.
Although I didn’t want the miniature sea in my backyard, I couldn’t disappoint the kids again. I had been feeding them lame excuses like we didn’t have “enough water” for a pool, or I would offer to buy them a toy to take their mind of a pool, that we picked up outside of wal-mart at the beginning of the summer. That was the first summer after the accident. The next summer I got the guts up to buy them a baby pool. The little pools they sell outside of Wal-Mart at the beginning of the summer. Needless to say, that pool didn’t hold their attention for long. They ended up turning it upside down and jumping on it. The two of them found more entertainment in destroying the pool than splashing in it.

Marianna was seven and Savion five this summer, and they wanted a real pool. I could no longer feed them excuses. Maybe I should be thankful of how resilient they are and grateful they didn’t have a fear of water.
The pool was almost full, so I got up to cut off the water hose. I went and stood at the edge of the pool. In the calm water, I could see Leanna’s backyard. It was a playland for children. She had an amazing jungle gym which had a slide, a swing set, and a clubhouse. Then there was the pool, which was five feet deep and about nine feet across, and was surrounded by a white picket fence. That playland became my nightmare one evening.
I remember Leanna diving into and bringing my lifeless three year old son from the water. His face blue, his body limp, clothes soaked, and his Pull-Up swollen with water. She laid him on the ground and started CPR. Her blonde hair was soaked. It fell and covered both her and Savion’s face as she breathed into his mouth. Marianna and Leanna’s little girl were standing by the jungle gym, their eyes brimming with tears, cheeks red with terror, and hands covering their little mouths. I grabbed my cell phone to dial 911. It was then Savion spit up water and begin to cry. Automatically, I fell to my knees, picked him up, and held him close to me. I couldn’t believe how close I had come to losing my child.
As the last couple of gallons filled into the pool, I got up and turned off the water hose. I heard a car pull up and the kids came running into the backyard. They started yelling with excitement when they saw the pool.
They ran and gave me a big hug and a kiss. I hugged them back, holding them long and hard, not wanting to let go. Eventually, they pulled away and ran inside to change. I got the ladder for the pool and set it up so they could climb in. A couple of minutes later, they were back outside ready to get in the pool. I took my post on the steps of the back porch. The kids started to splash water, yell, and laugh. They were having a good time; then, suddenly Savion submerged himself completely in the water. I waited a second, and then two after three, I jumped up ready to dive in. But before I reach the pool, Savion resurfaced with a big grin on his face. “Mommy I can hold my breath!” I realize my heart is pounding through my chest and Savion is so calm and fearless.
“Go ahead baby do it again” I say shaken with a half smile. I head back to the steps to sit down I had a feeling it was going to be a nerve racking afternoon.