Chapter Two Hydrophobia

I am William and Hydrophobia is my waterloo it is the fear of water. This is my childhood nightmare during a summer morning of 1997 I was a little weak child. I jumped into a deep blue sea with my friends when suddenly the current change and I felt suffocated when the water entered my mouth and my body collapsed until I was drowned. I thought I was dead but my sister saved me from the trouble. Back then I’m helpless and I got a phobia with water. My mother forbids me to swim in the river, lakes, and other saltwater regions because the crocodile might eat me. Every time my feet reached different kinds of bodies of water: sea, river, pond, and lakes my whole body trembled and my heart palpitates.

When I woke up, I thought I witnessed a massacre.

My eyes are wide open.

I was running for my life being hunted in those bodies of water by believing with one of the semi-aquatic monsters. Preyed upon and loved to kill humans. So its presence becoming so inserted into my consciousness.

Now I knew it, I realized why I choose the ring with a crocodile design because of the creature that engraves within the shadow of my inner self. But mostly, the crocodile is a semiaquatic reptile although it lives also inland half of it lives in water and I’m afraid of water.

Back to my situation, I woke up alone seating in a small recreational boat (canoe) with two-paddles, in a lonely dark lake, one evening where the full moon arose encircled with stars and no one could be seen. I looked around and I saw a nearby wreck capsize canoe but no person is moving. I just wondering what happen until the water bubbled in front of my canoe. Something breathes below the water and it wants to come up.

Splassssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

The crocodiles came out with large mouths, ready to devour humans. I suddenly shout with terror but when I blink my imagination fade away, I saw the heads of my teammates in volleyball.

“Come quickly William. Stella is getting stuck in the canoe and she can’t escape. Some crocodiles wants to eat and cornered her.” said Antoinette. Her face is badly injured and also my other friends. I guess they face something terrible before I landed from this canoe.

“Please save her man!!!” said Belfry.

I can’t promise but I just simply said. “Of course!”

I was the team Captain of Men’s volleyball for many years and I shared my talent and skills with those young ones.

I courted a woman named Stella lately in my college days but we’re too busy to our team for the championship so we set aside our endearment to each other until we have been separated after the graduation and focus on our careers. Now, fate unites us. My fear comes bigger and bigger as I paddled my canoe near to her. As much as I can, saving her was my priority even though I’m a coward and I want to overthrow my phobia to take her away from those beasts.

As I reached the capsize canoe my heart palpitates I tried to ignore it and fight for it.

I spent a lot of minutes to think about it and how can I rescue her.

My feet felt paralyze but my mind pushes my body to face my fear.

I watched the moon was rising over the trees nearby and I keep my eyes in the lake and then something circled around… something ghastly. It was coming towards the canoe. This is the most uncontrollable horror that seized me and I was too afraid the crocodile would see me. I wanted to scream but my tongue felt like it was glued to my mouth. There’s no voice coming out at the top of my lungs.

After some times I dive below the lake, it is cold as ice but I have a mission to find Stella to where she got stuck. The lights came from the moon and it helped me to find her easily. Her left feet are bounded by tight ropes from a piece of wood that’s why she can’t escape. I look around but there’s no moving creature so I tried to rise to get some help. When I saw the capsized canoe I felt relief. A knife stuck from the corner of the side of it, I get it as fast as I could and dive below.

It took me a lot of energy and time before I cut the rope. But when it did, I saw her pale face and she remained unconscious so I grab and we swam atop the surface of the lake. I felt froze and my lips are shaking my body became heavy in the water and I force myself to reach the other canoe, I had a strange feeling that the water was trying to tell me something. “Go as fast as you can” but little did I know something followed us in the river with its eyes flashes. I turned around and saw the crocodile; I was alarmed and the adrenaline comes rushing through my body. I climbed the canoe and reached both of her shoulders to pull her up. The crocodile swim faster just like as I thought, it opens up its mouth to reached her feet from the river but I aggressively pulled her to get her inside, I tore her shirt in the side of the shoulder it hurts her a lot but it is the only way to save her. So before the mouth reaches her feet, I hold the paddle and beat its mouth with all my might, I’ll do it several times until the crocodile is gone wild, it looked in my direction and shove the canoe through its mouth and I stumbled. Maybe the crocodile wants us to toss up and eat us easily when it opens up the mouth and bite us with its sharp teeth. I can’t rise again in a quick manner and retrieved my momentum but as few minutes passed the head of the crocodile reached the top of the canoe and I can’t think straight but its mouth is ready to devour Stella.

“Hey!! Come and get me. Dare to eat me.” I shouted to get its attention.

The crocodile turned in my direction and approach me.

I reached everything I can hold and throw it against the crocodile but it didn’t work. The mouth awe wide like it measures the whole body of the victim to easily swallow it. I grab the paddle and break it into two pieces and insert it struck from its mouth; the crocodile shook its head and find some time to remove the paddle from its mouth. Good idea, I pull Stella away from it and look around for a place where we can land and hide until I saw my friends in a distance piece of land waving their hands to come quickly.

I felt relief and somewhat I breathe smoothly until a loud bunch of laughter can be heard somewhere.

“Hahahahahahahahahahaha” The familiar hollow laughter of the devil.

The Shinigami witnessed my struggles and I guess he felt overwhelmed with his fulfilled dream.

I lose and he won.

No, it can’t be. I can’t die here. Not now. I search everything from the canoe whatever things that could help me to finish this dilemma and all of the sudden, something caught my attention. I saw a bunch of ropes encircled from a box with some lighters and big stones but I know that crocodiles are not afraid of lighters and they can’t be defeated because of their thick skin although the rope can help to shut its mouth.

I pick up the stone and rope before the crocodile destroys the paddle from its mouth. But I was late, the paddle turn into pieces and the crocodile easily reach the canoe with its whole body entered so before it swallows us, I jump with all my might, summersault, and ride on its enormous back. I hit its lips with a stone that’s why it’s getting mad again, shook its body to throw me away but I take my chances, my hands felt numb and bleeding with blood I hold a long rope and I tried to reach down its lower lip, it might bit me but I must take the possibility to tie its mouth. It was hard at first because my hands are getting swelling covered with blood then after some trial and error, the ropes shot and I tied it encircled from its mouth, the crocodile came to a stop when it can’t move with the mouth. So before I faint I jumped down away from its body and stared with my remaining strength. I witnessed how weak it is when there is no defensive weapon from a predator. The crocodile backs off and it swims back into the lake until it falls below the water and never came back.

“Thank God, you save us.” I exhale and feel the breeze that night. Disaster ends tonight. I overcame my fear and I save the woman of my life.

I tried mouth-to-mouth resuscitation several times until she felt choke, breathe and cough and release the water inside her mouth.

“You’re alive Stella.” I smiled and she smiled back then and we hug.

Then again I felt love again with her tender caress.

My drained energy was brought back to life as we escaped from the creature.

I paddled left and right using one paddle and we reached our destination. At the time we went to the piece of land and we hugged our teammates. We planned to run from the bunch of trees nearby. Far from distance, we saw lights hiding from somewhere and we followed it believing that some rangers found out what happened. We run from it and when we reached the lights everything went dark again.