Meg’s Transformation Scene 43

The lifeguard’s friend walked away and Megan swam towards him. When she was sure he was looking, she lifted her head, whipped her damp hair around and smiled at him. He returned the smile, but made no effort to converse. So much for that, she thought, and returned to her previous position.
One of the tykes on the shallow end was having a conniption. A fair-haired little boy apparently had refused to go into the water despite his mother’s urgings for him to do so.
“No, mommy!” he whined. “I’m scared.”
“Brady, there is absolutely nothing for you to be scared about,” the mother sternly rebuked. “Your sister isn’t afraid to be in the water and she’s in diapers. Maybe you should be too if you are going to be acting like this.”
“Noooo!” Brady whined again. His eyes began to tear. Sighing, his mother scooped up his sister and emerged from the pool. She then seized his hand and began to drag him away with poor Brady bawling all the while.
Megan couldn’t help but smile. She knew a nostalgic moment when she saw one. Someday, that kid would grow up to be big and strong and his mother would bring up the infamous time he was afraid to be in the pool. As funny as it was, she tried to place herself in his shoes. He was only about four or so, no longer a baby but not old enough to play with the bigger kids. Stuck between ages, confused. She imagined that he’d want to prove himself, but that he really is scared. What if he gets in there and drowns? What if he pees himself? The threat of being put back in diapers does nothing for his confidence, but does get the point across: he’s acting like a baby. His mother is right there. She wouldn’t let anything happen to him. He needs to take the chance. Someday he will…but not today.
A whistle went off and Megan snapped back to reality. The lap swimmers on the far end had gotten into some kind of argument and were now being pulled apart. Megan wondered what (or who) they were fighting over. She…
“Oh crap!” she muttered. The water around her had taken on a slightly different color. She wasn’t sure, but she suspected that she had an accident…. in a public pool of all places. Pretty soon, people would take their attention off the divers…. and turn it to her. Panic stormed at the gates of her self-control, but she forced herself to take a deep breath and be calm. Quickly, but confidently, she emerged from the pool, grabbed her things and headed into the showers.