Learning to work in harmony, as a team without trying to outdo the rest. That's what getting schooled is all about...
Clyde had trouble keeping up with
the group. They shot past him no matter how hard he struggled. He changed his
breathing to give himself a boost. Huff, puff, hold. Huff, puff, hold.
If he could just match Steven’s
speed, he’d be happy. Steven was a foot in front of him, but gaining ground on
Clyde. At this rate, he’d lose sight of Steven shortly.
The bigger question was staying in
line with the others. Coach Michael made sure they all understood that speed
was less important than alignment. Clyde told himself that over and over, but
when the others slid in front of him, he forced himself to give more. Faster, faster. He just couldn’t help
it.
“Don’t push me aside,” Little
Linley said and nudged him back. He’d gotten in her path. But, he overcompensated
and veered over in Peter’s way.
“God, Clyde, watch out! You almost
kicked me in the gut.”
“Sorry.” Clyde’s heart pounded.
Would he ever learn the way to move with the others? Would he ever learn the
harmony of it?
“You can do it, Clyde,” Coach
Michael said, coming up next to him. “The trick is to keep straight. Try not to
swerve but keep your body rotating. You’ll get it.” He moved on with such
enviable ease Clyde wanted to scream.
This was just their third day out.
The day before the Big Fish loomed just a week away—the day that would determine their future. They
could get eaten alive in one second if they weren’t careful. Clyde’s life
depended on staying with the group. Huff, puff, hold. His heart sank as Little
Linley passed him.
After the practice, Clyde went off by
himself. He thought he might try and go it alone for a while. If he could work
on going in a straight line without the pressure of the others around him,
maybe, just maybe he’d survive the big test.
When he moved out and circled
around, a sense of joy and fulfillment engulfed him. The tension he felt in the group disappeared.
He could do this. All he had to do was relax and allow the rhythm to take over.
That’s what Coach Michael had told him a million times. When he reached the
most distant end of the divide, far from his home, he peered around, lost.
Where had he ended up? The area smelled of lime and mint. The sweet odor lured
him farther away. His dad had told him not to go beyond the barrier reef, but
he wanted to follow that scent.
A giant hand reached for him. He
lunged sideways just as the fingers grabbed the back of his body .
He marshaled every bit of energy he had from deep inside his soul and escaped the
trap, flying away with the speed of a seagull. The odor of mint and lime faded. He
reached the home stretch in record time, having gone faster than he ever had in
his life.
The next day in practice, he stayed
close to Steven without any trouble. He moved when Steven moved. He kept himself
perfectly aligned and never veered into Peter’s path. He stayed at least two
lengths ahead of little Linley. Clyde felt jubilant when they finished.
Coach Michael pulled him aside
after the practice. “What happened to you today? You were totally awesome out
there.”
Clyde smiled. “I was too nervous to
focus. Then the more I tried to focus, the worse it got. I just needed to prove
to myself that I was as good as the rest of them. That I wasn’t holding them
back.”
The coach smiled at him and patted
his dorsal.
“That’s what swimming in a school is all about. Knowing you can swim as fast as
everyone else. Letting your body respond to the movement around you without
holding back. We swim as one. That will save you from the big fish.”
Clyde finally understood.
When the big day came the following
week, he swam with his school, right by the big fish and without the slightest
doubt that he would survive.
***
Joan Curtis is the author of The Clock Strikes Midnight which won the Silver Medal in the Global eBook Awards for 2015 for fiction/suspense. The e-Murderer, her newest release, came out this month. It is the first in a series starring Jenna Scali.
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