What Emma Left Behind

by Anne Spackman

  * * * * *

  Claudia was in a daze. Her dreams seemed to take her to another time, another world--a world where she was not herself but another girl from long ago. Whoever she was, she was in terrible danger, and whatever made the bridge between them caused horribly lifelike nightmares. Claudia was beginning to feel as if she herself were in danger. As if something, or someone, wanted her dead. But that was crazy. Who would want to kill her? she tried to reason, yet she was still afraid.

  She was more than afraid. She was terrified of the water.

  All of a sudden Claudia felt hands--huge, strong hands throwing her into the water. There was no escape... Down, deep under the thrashing waves she fell, powerless to do anything as her body sank to where the water was dark and still. Just when she had abandoned all hope, someone lifted her up into the fresh air and was pounding on her back. She coughed the water out of her chest.

  "Claudia, are you okay? You had me really scared for a minute." Claudia opened her eyes. Caera's face was worried.

  "Nice going, Caera. That was some joke." Ana was dripping sarcasm.

  "What happened?" Claudia was shaken.

  "Your sister was upset because you wouldn't jump in, so she pushed you." Ana explained. "Only you didn't come up. You just tucked your arms and legs and sank like a stone."

  "Yeah. I had to jump in and drag you out!" Caera said, patting Claudia on the back. "I guess I was lucky the lifeguard wasn't looking, or I would have been in a lot of trouble. But why didn't you start swimming? The water's only five feet deep."

  "I guess I just got the wind knocked out of me," Claudia said the first thing that came into her mind, aware that she had almost drowned for a very different reason.