 
DAVID SHATH SQUARE Chapter Ten
They say at the moment of death your whole life passes before you like a movie on fast forward. I don't think this is true; or maybe I just hadn't lived long enough to have a full-length film. Whatever the reason, as I clung to Shadow's body, all I could think of was Thoreena, her baby and my dog.
I would never see the baby or have a life with Thoreena. I would never again know the joy of throwing a stick for Shadow; watch him bound into the water and race back with it to shore, rolling in blueberry bushes and poison ivy.
Such were my thoughts as I was tantalized by death. Quite suddenly I was overcome with a desire to slap the old reaper in the face: to meet death with valor and defiance. I began to recite some lines of a poem my father had me memorize: "Do not go gentle into that good night...Grave men, near death, who see the blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying light..."
Thoreena, who was fighting to keep myself and Shadow afloat, gave me a look.
"Hell's elongated bells, Hardy, we're going down for the count and you're reciting poetry. How many screws do you have loose in that head of yours?" Say what you will about poetry, the best kind has an effect on the soul; for no sooner had I finished when I felt Shadow thrash about in the water...I was stunned. I studied his head for a bullet wound. I found a long furrow that parted the skin leaving the skull intact. The bullet had creased his skull and knocked him unconscious but now, revived by the water, he was swimming like a moose escaping a pack of wolves.
I turned over in the water, wrapped my arms around his big chest and told Thoreena to do the same. We kicked our legs in unison to Shadow's dog paddle and together moved inches away from the maws of the turbines.
Shadow looked over his shoulder as if to ask 'what kind of a dumb-ass situation have you gotten us into?' I knew Shadow was a powerful swimmer, but I had no idea how powerful until he began to drag us away from danger. I guess a little desperation helps too. With Thoreena and myself kicking our legs and Shadow churning the water with all four, we began to make headway. But even our combined effort wasn't enough to get us away from the dam and the water that surged over the falls. As we struggled, we were sucked into the vortex and found ourselves tumbling in deep, fast water that rushed over granite boulders like quicksilver.
I can only speak for myself yet I assume the experience was similar for Thoreena and for Shadow. I felt as if a giant hand had grabbed me and submerged me and held me breathless and helpless. The water turned white then green then pitiless black as I was forced down into the very depths of the river. I was dashed against boulders, thrown forward and backward, and finally held in an abysmal, remorseless embrace that threatened to squeeze the life force out of me. At the very last, it was peaceful and dark and very still. A few bubbles began to escape from my mouth; I was resigned to death. Then something big and primeval slithered across my face. I was so revolted by the sliminess of the thing that I began to kick my legs and thrash the water with my arms.
To Chapter Eleven
Copyright © 1998 David Square/Log Cabin Chronicles/4.98 |
