Chapter 11
Sonny
Iwas drowning. The water swirled around me and weighed me down and, no matter how I fought against it, I sank lower and lower, away from that bright circle of light.
My lungs burned.
I whimpered.
The cold water was all around me, the lake suddenly vast like an ocean, and speckled lights danced in a circle around me, taunting me.
I was going to die here. This was it.
I wanted to scream but my lungs didn’t work, too filled with water.
My body twitched as I thrashed and kicked, trying to get to the surface.
Then I felt them.
Those long, dexterous tentacles wound round me, encircling me completely.
They were warm and comforting, tracing over my skin and winding around my arm and my chest. I breathed deeply, suddenly certain I was going to be okay.
As the tentacles encircled me, I was no longer in the water. I was on a boat, basking in the sun, my body warm and glowing in the heat, the cool breeze ruffling my hair.
The little suckers on the tentacles pressed against my skin, surprisingly hard, and I relaxed into their hold. They had me.
As long as I was wound in these tentacles, so warm and gentle and all-encompassing, I was safe.