Let Us Dive!
I have always been the kind that takes action... Dives first then gets to figure it out later when I am in the deep end... Kinda girl. So, when I was in primary school back in the 90's.... man! It does seem like such a long time ago... bear in mind that I still consider myself to be a child... A young child! I digress... So when I was in primary school, our headmaster who happened to be my dad started a construction in school of what seemed to be a swimming pool. I think it was 1996 there abouts. Let me have bragging rights... I went to a very affluent school back in the day and I am thankful for that. I mean, for a Kenyan school to have a computer lab, French lessons, a full fledge art club and music club that won awards was something out of the ordinary. That was one well managed school. Back to the pool... since the construction was taking time and our neighbouring school already had a pool, I seeked permission from my folks to visit the pool in one of the sunny weekends. They agreed. We stride in all dressed for the occasion.... wet affair... remember we were oozing hormones as we were pre-teens meaning our swim suits were shopped to stand out! Little did we know that all swim suits do stand out as they are designed to be 'glued' to the body and all too revealing and since we were shy, we did wear biker shorts underneath so that the boys we wanted to grab their attention weren't really looking at us that much. I know! Teenagers! I am rolling my eyes at this realisation now... we really did not know what we wanted... I mean, we wanted attention but we did not want it. Hormones do truly make us to be misunderstood by the world and unfortunately also to ourselves. So, here we are with our body hugging swim suits, all eyes on us... or so I thought... as we step out the changing room... I decide to make it a GRAND entrance by saying I want to dive! I mean, I had seen cows dive in cattle dips a lot... if a cow could do it... why not me right? WRONG! I went up the diving steps.. the first tier was too shallow for me. I could hear my friends screaming down below... "Kini, are you sure?" I ignored them... I went up the second tier which was the last and highest... I saw someone jump off and the board bounced... It tickled my intestines and they started moving all so gloriously in my torso awakening feelings I have never quite felt before. The board beckoned me to approach... I did not feel myself move but by the time I came to, I was standing right at the edge of the board with the whole pool, trees, house roofs all so clear beneath me, The board wasn't steady either... it did a little dance making it seem like a trampoline was glued to my feet! Remember my moving intestines? They stopped on their tracks and started twisting in a very uncomfortable manner.. I could feel them yearning to come out and strangle me for such a stupid lack of self preservation tact! All of a sudden, I couldn't move.. I was not a bird, I couldn't fly... For there was no way this would be a jump.. only taking flight. NOPE! "I want to live to see my children after I have married my price charming in an elaborate wedding" Was what my brain was telling me... "This would cut all my plans short!" NOPE! I started moving back without turning. With each step I said a prayer and strangely enough, the board became more steady... The prayers were working! Or so I thought! My back suddenly felt a warm 'pole'.. I knew I was safe... I turned holding on to 'it' for dear life with my eyes closed mumbling some incoherent words... on opening my eyes, I was holding on to the crash of my life! Remember the prince charming I want to have have an elaborate wedding with? The father to our unborn children? YES! That one! I was desperately hugging the poor bloke! He whispered asking me if I had pulled back to gain traction in order to jump... "Yes! Like an arrow, only way forward is when I pull back" and with that, I turned full speed ahead, I am told I bounced two times and up I was in the air... For the life of me I have no idea now why I did such a stupid thing but! Back then, there was no way I was going to be the laugh of town and a conversation starter for the whole term! Also, why would I embarrass myself in front of my future husband? The boy who would grow up to be the man of my dreams sweeping me off my feet literally? He was already doing it figuratively... it was only a matter of time for him to build up strong muscles... I am in the air thinking all these and other things like, what if I die? I crush into someone? What if I pee when I am up there and it lands on an unsuspecting pupil? What if... What if? I was at this time summersaulting in the air numerous of times. I pierced the water head first and I immediately remembered cows swam very well... unfortunately, I was clearly not made of cow material as I was drowning. I could hear faintly people clapping above the water.. they were cheering me on saying they had never seen such an epic dive. I was drowning. I tried balancing... How do you get your balance in water when there is nothing to hold onto? I gulped so much water I started burping but every time I burped, more water got in. The cheers got faint, I felt my body becoming heavy... My soul was slowly leaving my body and for what? Impressing a boy? Thinking I had cow DNA? Lawd! What would I be remembered for? "Kini made one epic dive into the water and exit to the world of the spirits" my epitaph would read. Really? Is this the way I go out? My body was hardly hanging on so I said my prayer to be received with kindness on the other side, I hoped to get another kid that was cute as the one I jumped for... I then let my body go... I was ready to go to the other side. A bright light, a loud cheer and hugs are what welcomed me! Ohhhh... I instantly love the world of spirits. I am smiling so hard. I am here for it all. I open my eyes to my prince charming look alike! He is holding me up and hugging me telling me how awesome I was at diving and holding my breath! I wonder if the land of the living price had a twin brother that died and is the one welcoming me... a familiar friendly face, I like this world! People gather around me and cheer me... singing praises! Wait, all these are people I know! My classmates, friends, neighbours! My world! This truly is a great world where you are met with friendly faces to ease up the transition... A rude shock awakens me from my mental maze... I vomit out water... I am short of breath. You mean I am alive? How? Turns out, when I decided to let my 'soul' go, what I did was let my body go hence I floated. In my struggle I had swam all the way from the deep end to the shallow end under water! Turns out I was a cow after all! A thirsty one for that matter!
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