River Giver

“It happened when I was about six years old.

We used to live next to a creek, a beautiful river that flooded in the spring, but we enjoyed it nonetheless. It was my first time outside by the creek on my own, no one in my family was watching me. They were all busy with other activities, and I had simply wandered off.

I put my little toes in the river and started to wade in. I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t know how deep it was. I had never been in it very long before.

This time was different. I kept wading in, further and further, watching as the water rose, higher… and higher.

Suddenly, my head went under, and I sucked in a huge gulp of water.

It couldn’t have been deeper than six feet. But I was only four feet tall at the time. I thrashed around, trying to get to the surface, but I only sank lower until my feet touched the bottom.

I didn’t know then that I could have used the momentum from the ground to get back up. Instead I continued to fight, my vision blurring.

Suddenly, strong arms wrapped around me, grabbing me and pulling me to the surface. I gasped for air, and at first, I didn't care who had saved me.

Then my parents came rushing out of the house, wrapping me in a blanket and picking me up.

“I’m Daniel.” The man who had saved me said. “I was just walking by and I saw this little girl fall in. I didn’t see any of you, so I decided to save her.”

My parents were overjoyed to see me okay, and they invited the man inside to have dinner with us. I’ll admit, he was a little scary with his wet clothes plastered to his body. But I got over it, and now ten years later, I’m still scared of water. I know it’s irrational, but isn’t that what all fears are? So yeah, that’s my story.”

The class sat in silence.

My teacher, wide eyed, stood up from her chair. “That was a wonderful story, Dalia. You’re a natural storyteller.”

“Thanks.” I said, brushing a strand of long brown hair behind my ear.

The class nodded in appreciation and agreement. I walked back to my seat in the middle of the classroom and sat down.

“Alright.” My teacher looked at a paper. “Okay, Nick. You’re next. What story do you have to tell us from your childhood?”

It was only the seventh day of school. We didn’t need to know each other this well. So I don’t know what this teacher was thinking when she gave us this assignment.

The bell rang after Nick’s story, so we all hustled out of the classroom to go to lunch. I made my way downstairs to reserve a table for myself and then strolled over to the lunch line.

Suddenly, I got slammed to the ground and two boys walked over me, laughing and snorting like nothing had happened.

I groaned and made my way to my feet, shaking slightly.

At this school, I’m either ignored or bullied. I’m walked on either way, literally and figuratively. People just don’t care about me.

I shrugged off the feeling and got my lunch, heading back to my table.

It was already a horrible school day. I didn’t expect it to get any better.

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I got home late that day because I missed the bus. Why I missed the bus isn’t important. Let’s just say there was some punching involved.

I stepped into the house, rubbing my newest bruise and grabbing a glass of water. I downed it in at least three seconds then went outside to sit on the porch.

“Dalia?” My mom called from inside the house.

I stood up and went back inside the house. “Yeah?”

“Can you take out the trash?”

I sighed. I had another sister. But she was always in her room and my mom never asked her to do anything. It just wasn’t fair.

I grabbed the giant bag of trash and heaved it out of the trash can, walking it towards the trash container outside and chucking it inside, slamming the lid behind me with a huff.

Suddenly, there was a splash.

I turned around to see a young child in our river, about six years old, and she was flailing around like a fish out of water.

Or a little girl in a river who couldn’t swim.

I stood up, looking around for someone to go and save her, but there was no one around.

The girl went under, and she didn’t come back up.

I ran over, electric fear shooting through my veins and up my body. I stood at the water’s edge, remembering how scared I was when the exact same thing had happened to me.

The exact same thing that happened to me ten years ago.

What a coincidence.

I have to save her.

I tried to swallow my fear of the water, and without another thought, I jumped straight in.

The water slammed into my face like a knife, and I dove underneath the water, looking for the girl as the water stung my eyes. I couldn’t see well, but my hand brushed against something I could only guess was the girl.

I grabbed onto it and felt a hand, then an arm. I grasped her hand then pulled her to the surface, dragging her onto dry land.

She started coughing. “Daddy!” She called after a moment. “Daddy!”

Two people suddenly burst through the bushes, running straight toward her. One looked about forty years old and was obviously her father. The other looked about my age and must have been her brother.

“Anna!” Her brother said, then turned to me. “You saved her! Thank you so much!” He hugged me, which was unexpected.

Anna’s dad picked her up and cradled her in his arms. “Thank you so much for saving her life. I don’t know how we could ever repay you. I’m Daniel, and this is Peter. What’s your name?”

Daniel. My mind whispered, making a connection.

“Have you been to this river before?” I asked him.

“Yeah!!” Peter said before his dad could say anything. “Remember? You told me that ten years ago you saved a little girl from that river who was drowning. You said her name was….”

“Dalia.” I said.

Daniel looked at me. “How did you know that?”

“That’s me.” I whispered. “You saved me ten years ago.

Peter was speechless. “That’s crazy…” Was the only thing he could mutter.

“I saved you when you were six.” Daniel said, “From that exact river.”

“I know.”

Daniel pulled out his phone and checked his calendar. “Today, as well.”

“Wow.” I said, I was quiet.

It was a crazy coincidence. Ten years ago, Daniel saved me from the river. Then, the same day ten years later, I saved his daughter from the very same river. If he hadn’t saved me, I wouldn’t have been able to save his daughter.

“It’s a miracle.” Peter said.

Or something like that.