Little White Shoes

“I heard something small fall in the water but I didn’t think it could be you. I decided to turn around anyway to see what you were doing. As I turned around I saw part of your little white shoes coming up from the surface. At that moment my mind became full of thousands of thoughts.” Ana’s small brown eyes grew bigger and her mouth opened wide. She breathed harder than usual as if there was no more air. She held her hands up like she wanted me to come over to her. She ran as fast as she could with her bright red shirt, her jeans, and her black Converse. Her long, soft and curly black hair moved wildly with the fresh wind. The sun brightened her face making it lighter. Her face was as if she had seen a ghost and looked more worried than someone who hadn’t studied for a test.

“You were really small. You were almost completely in the water. I could just see your little shoes but your head and all your body were in the water, which made me more worried.” She pursed her little red lips together and tightened them. “I was really scared that I might not be able to save you but at the same time I felt hopeful and tried to be positive and think that you were going to be alive when I pulled you out of the water.” As she sat there she brought the whole memory to life. She ran and thought “Will she be alive? Will I be able to save her? What if I’m too late and I don’t save her?” She was thinking about all the bad things that could happen but also that I was going to be okay. As the words flowed out of her mouth and entered my ears I traveled back to that day at the river.

As she finally got to the river she submerged her hands in the warm water and grabbed my little white shoes and kept pulling me until my whole body was out of the water. She held me in her big, warm hands. I was more scared than a little kid going to school for the first day and I was really surprised that I was still alive. My clothes were wet and felt sticky and uncomfortable on my skin. My face was without expression just standing with my eyes closed. My whole body was shaking. At that moment, I didn’t know what to think or what to say, I wasn’t even sure if I was really alive. When I was drowning I kept trying to think that I was going to be okay but at the end I just thought I wasn’t going to make it and now I was just here standing. As I stood there all of my thoughts and feelings were out of place. I didn’t know if I should be happy, sad, confused, surprised or even what to do.

“I kept on saying ‘Cristina! Cristina! Are you okay?’ because you didn’t open your eyes but as soon as you opened them I said, ‘Oh Cristina, I’m so happy your okay! Are you cold? Do you need anything? How did you fall? What happened? Are you hearing me? Are you listening?’”

“Y-e-s,” I muttered under my breath. I was only five years old. I could not believe I was standing here with my sister. I could not believe I was even alive. The whole scene played over and over in my head. I was listening to my sister but I was thinking about what happened and how this all happened so quickly. I didn’t want to talk I just wanted something warm. I looked into my sister’s eyes and the more I looked at them the more I felt like that moment was real, that I was alive.

She carried me in her arms and tried to keep me warm. I put my head on her shoulder as the scene kept repeating in my head over and over. I was shaking a little but then I stopped when she put her hands tighter around me. It smelled like sun block combined with flowers. That smell made me feel comfortable and secure like if nothing had happened. As she carried me in her arms she looked really happy that she had been able to save me from drowning. “I was filled with joy and happiness. You were alive! I actually saved you!” I looked and observed the big smile on her face, her eyes shined like the sun, her hair was moving as the wind blew. I kept looking at her and thought, “This is how a hero really looks like.”