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Authors: Anna Roberts
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shoulder. “Okay, you’re done.”
Blue turned. “Thanks. But what do you mean? Went wrong?”
“Well, she drowned,” said Gabe. “The bride. Or at least that’s what they said. They found water in her lungs but I guess it could just have easily been hypercapnia. Dead space. You see, you don’t use all of your lungs when you breathe out. You only exhale a certain percentage of the air you breathe in, right?”
“Right,” she said, wondering what on earth had possessed her to come out here in the first place. There was no way she was getting in the water now. Not in a million years.
Gabe picked up a snorkel and held it up to his mouth. “What happens sometimes is that people breathe in through the snorkel, like so.” He demonstrated. “Then they exhale through it the same way. See? That way the CO2 you breathe out gets caught in the tube and when you breathe in you breathe it back. It fills up the dead spaces in your lungs and you get hypercapnia, which is basically CO2 poisoning. You get confused, sluggish, dizzy, weak and eventually – if you don’t get out and start breathing normally again – dead.”
Blue was aware that she probably looked like a rabbit in the headlights, but she couldn’t seem to remember how to blink. Gabe looked perfectly cheerful, like he was teaching a fun science class to a bunch of enthusiastic sixth graders.
“And you want me to get in the water?” she said.
“Relax. I won’t let you die.”
“Good. Thank you. That’s...very nice of you.”
He laughed. “I told you – I know what I’m doing. All you have to do is remember to exhale through your nose from time to time.”
“I don’t think I can - ”
“- you can.” He handed her a snorkel. “In through the tube, out through the nose. If the tube fills with water you need to clear it. Just a hard, sharp breath out – like you’re saying the word ‘two’, but hard. That’s it.”
She felt dizzy already. “Am I really going to let you talk me into this?”
He patted her shoulder. “It’s fine. You’ll be surprised how shallow it is when you’re in. We’re right on the reef. And it’s worth it. Believe me.” He dipped a mask in the water and handed it to her. “Here’s the disgusting part; spit in it.”
“Spit?”
“Yep. Spit in it and just rub it around in there. Stops it from fogging up.”
When she tried to summon enough spit the feel of it in her mouth was enough to set her off feeling queasy again, so in her determination to look normal she spat maybe harder than she needed to. She swallowed hard as she did as directed, rubbing the saliva around in the mask with her thumb. The boat rolled once more and she wanted to be back in the hotel, with the soothing smell of bleach in the background, keeping at bay all the phantom stinks of that sad, drowned world.
The mask seemed to suck at the edges of her eyes, but Gabe said that was good. Meant it was watertight.
“Okay,” he said, sitting on the side of the boat, strange and froglike in swimfins. “When we go over the side, I want you to keep your body parallel to the sea bed, okay? Like you’re lying flat face down in the water. Don’t put your feet down, whatever you do, because you might touch the coral.”
“Why? Will it hurt?”
“It hurts the coral worse,” he said. “You can destroy forty years growth of live coral with a single touch. It’s that delicate, so you must never touch it, okay?”
She nodded. Was this really happening? Was she really going to deliberately fall off a boat in the middle of the ocean like this? What if she got swept away? She wanted to tell him no, that she was afraid, but that would lead to a whole bunch of things she wasn’t ready to tell him. Or anyone.
“Remember what we talked about,” he said. “Exhale through your nose, or you wind up breathing your own air back.”
“Right,” she said, trying to remember everything. It seemed overwhelming. “Oh God. This is really happening,
Blue turned. “Thanks. But what do you mean? Went wrong?”
“Well, she drowned,” said Gabe. “The bride. Or at least that’s what they said. They found water in her lungs but I guess it could just have easily been hypercapnia. Dead space. You see, you don’t use all of your lungs when you breathe out. You only exhale a certain percentage of the air you breathe in, right?”
“Right,” she said, wondering what on earth had possessed her to come out here in the first place. There was no way she was getting in the water now. Not in a million years.
Gabe picked up a snorkel and held it up to his mouth. “What happens sometimes is that people breathe in through the snorkel, like so.” He demonstrated. “Then they exhale through it the same way. See? That way the CO2 you breathe out gets caught in the tube and when you breathe in you breathe it back. It fills up the dead spaces in your lungs and you get hypercapnia, which is basically CO2 poisoning. You get confused, sluggish, dizzy, weak and eventually – if you don’t get out and start breathing normally again – dead.”
Blue was aware that she probably looked like a rabbit in the headlights, but she couldn’t seem to remember how to blink. Gabe looked perfectly cheerful, like he was teaching a fun science class to a bunch of enthusiastic sixth graders.
“And you want me to get in the water?” she said.
“Relax. I won’t let you die.”
“Good. Thank you. That’s...very nice of you.”
He laughed. “I told you – I know what I’m doing. All you have to do is remember to exhale through your nose from time to time.”
“I don’t think I can - ”
“- you can.” He handed her a snorkel. “In through the tube, out through the nose. If the tube fills with water you need to clear it. Just a hard, sharp breath out – like you’re saying the word ‘two’, but hard. That’s it.”
She felt dizzy already. “Am I really going to let you talk me into this?”
He patted her shoulder. “It’s fine. You’ll be surprised how shallow it is when you’re in. We’re right on the reef. And it’s worth it. Believe me.” He dipped a mask in the water and handed it to her. “Here’s the disgusting part; spit in it.”
“Spit?”
“Yep. Spit in it and just rub it around in there. Stops it from fogging up.”
When she tried to summon enough spit the feel of it in her mouth was enough to set her off feeling queasy again, so in her determination to look normal she spat maybe harder than she needed to. She swallowed hard as she did as directed, rubbing the saliva around in the mask with her thumb. The boat rolled once more and she wanted to be back in the hotel, with the soothing smell of bleach in the background, keeping at bay all the phantom stinks of that sad, drowned world.
The mask seemed to suck at the edges of her eyes, but Gabe said that was good. Meant it was watertight.
“Okay,” he said, sitting on the side of the boat, strange and froglike in swimfins. “When we go over the side, I want you to keep your body parallel to the sea bed, okay? Like you’re lying flat face down in the water. Don’t put your feet down, whatever you do, because you might touch the coral.”
“Why? Will it hurt?”
“It hurts the coral worse,” he said. “You can destroy forty years growth of live coral with a single touch. It’s that delicate, so you must never touch it, okay?”
She nodded. Was this really happening? Was she really going to deliberately fall off a boat in the middle of the ocean like this? What if she got swept away? She wanted to tell him no, that she was afraid, but that would lead to a whole bunch of things she wasn’t ready to tell him. Or anyone.
“Remember what we talked about,” he said. “Exhale through your nose, or you wind up breathing your own air back.”
“Right,” she said, trying to remember everything. It seemed overwhelming. “Oh God. This is really happening,
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