There are moments when you feel that a few seconds pass like minutes or even hours. It was a hot summer day when I was 18 or 19 years old. I went to a public swimming pool and I almost drowned. Although I survived that day, I went through a terrifying experience.
I do not remember exactly when that happened, yet I still vividly recall that it was a Sunday and it was hot, like setting inside the hottest room in a “Hammam: public bath”. My friends and I decided to go to a public swimming pool to enjoy the refreshing water there. After we arrived and started swimming and playing in the water, I spotted a beautiful girl jumping in the water. I moved like a shark that smelled the blood to be next to her when she popped her head out of water. What a huge mistake! I did not pay attention that she jumped in the pool’s deep side, and I didn’t know how to swim in a deep pool.
When I tried to stand up on the bottom of the pool, I found no bottom there. I panicked. My heart started beating like when being chased by a dog. Uselessly, I waved my hand in the water. I extended my right hand, trying to hold anything, but the journey of sinking had already started. Suddenly, I did not know what had happened exactly. I did not feel panic anymore. Everything became calm and peaceful. My eyes were wide open. The water was clear. I saw sunrays shining through the water. Then, the vision became fuzzy. All I could see at that moment was a bluish brightness.
From nowhere, or just because I was shocked or drowned, I saw a hand emerged from the water and grabbed mine. I felt myself floating up. Suddenly, a deep sniffle came from me. Then, I started breathing fast, and I tried to hold in anything near me. My hand touched a hard object, which I realized later that it was the poolside. I clung to the poolside tightly, and turned my head left and right to see who saved me. I found that girl looking at me and confusedly said, “I am sorry. I thought you were pretending to be drowning”.
After I thanked her deeply and chatting a bit, I knew from her that the whole drowning experience had happened in less than 10 seconds. Although for me, it was like forever. What is important is that I survived and this quite frightening experience made me think twice before jumping into the unknown.
Salah Eddine Benchabiba
Semester 3, Department of English Studies
Chouaib Doukkali University , El Jadida