Chapter 35: Giving Up
The feeling of icy water drowning me was enough to force me to wake up as I opened my mouth to gasp for air.
Unfortunately for me, there was no air to be found in the waters of the bayou. As soon as my mouth opened, swampy water full of debris and grit filled my mouth, forcing itself down my throat and lungs as I tried to figure out what was going on.
My mind was too panicked to think straight, and I found my limbs floundering in the water as I tried to get my bearings. I had no idea which way was up; all I knew was that my lungs, throat, and stomach burned as I fought for my life.
My movements in the water caused the creatures around me to become curious, their bodies bumping into me as in continued to try and reach the surface. Feeling something in front of me, I grabbed onto it for dear life as my body tried to expel the water inside of it.
"Hattie!" Pride’s scream finally cut through the cloud of panic in my mind as I felt the edges of my consciousness starting to blur. "Hold on to the gator, Love. We have enough power to get you to the surface in one piece; just don’t let go."
The second Pride told me I was gripping onto a gator; my first instinct was to let go and take my chances back in the water. But this was Pride, and no matter what was going on around me, I would always listen to him.
"That’s right, Pudding Pop," murmured Glut, his voice coming right beside my ear as if he was on the same beast as I was. "The gator is a friend. He’ll make sure that you are safe and sound on shore, or else you’ll be wearing his skin for shoes."
I couldn’t help but chuckle at Gluttony’s joke. I knew he was just trying to calm me down, but the image of me as Papa Noel, riding gators through the swamp, was just too much for me. Hysterical laughter came out of me the moment my head reached the surface of the water.
Between laughing and puking up all the water from my lungs and stomach, I was completely rung out by the time my ride made it to shore.