AND BREATHE
Dee hoisted Petey out of his high
chair and smacked his nappy-padded bottom. He wasn’t hurt but it shocked him
into taking a breath – when he held it that long it frightened her.
Petey grew into a self-willed
teenager, ignoring Dee’s admonitions to stay away from the tidal pools, and his
gang often bunked off school to go swimming.
One blustery day Martin misjudged his
dive and the whirlpool dragged him down to certain death, but Petey took a deep
breath and jumped after him.
The others counted two long minutes
before he dragged Martin ashore, unconscious but alive.
.........................................................................
Dale Rogerson's photograph of lights made me think of whirlpools - such is my weird imagination! Thanks to Rochelle for hosting Friday Fictioneers on her blog https://rochellewisoff.com/ from whence you can follow the link to read more short stories and see what other writers made of the prompt.
