My vision blurred as I gazed at the massive blue hole. It was shimmering sometimes and going dark other
times. I heard a voice, “You can do it, Ash!” I closed my eyes during the plunge and jumped in. Terrified, I opened my eyes during the plunge, threw my limbs around wildly and splashed into the water on my belly. I panicked. I could only see black cuboid looking objects. I threw my head back and instantly saw glorious sunlight.
I somehow got to the edge of the little well and quickly climbed out. “Good try, but you still have to get
there”, Coach said. I was trembling. I feared water too much to swim. I thought I would drown into the deep hole. My father, though, insisted me on trying to learn how to swim. Did he not know I was trying really hard? Several days went like this but I just could not stay among the ripples too long. I was in great need of motivation from my mother.
On Saturday night (a week since my first swimming lesson), I came to her and squeezed her hand tight. With the power of mother telepathy stuff, she knew what I was going to talk
about. She simply replied with, “Fears are nothing more than a state of mind, my dear. You can do it.” I smiled weakly and went back to watching professional swimmers swimming on my laptop. Little did I know, those were the last words I heard from my mother. The next day, my father woke me up with urgency in his voice.
“Mother got an abrupt and major heart attack.” My world came crashing down. My legs felt heavy as I got out of bed. Mother’s empty, lifeless face was too much for my sensitive little mind. To distract myself, I went out to the well and without second thoughts, plunged in. “No! Why would you jump in, Ashlyn? You will drown and die now!” I thought. I was petrified. I remembered the quote my mother had said. I flapped my little legs, and came to the edge of the well. I tried to calm down and it did not go in vain. I applied the
tips my coach had taught me.
I still do not exactly know how I did it, but I was swimming! I was going around in circles splashing water several feet high. The next day, I surprised my coach by swimming like a
graceful fish.
Fast forwarding a few hard-working and eventful years, I am now on the tenth rank in the world. I have won 2 silver medals and a gold medal in the Olympics. I earned enough money to build a statue of my wonderful mother. If it was not for her words, I would never have had the courage to face my ‘fear’.
