I am often inspired by Chinese festivals, and this story is no different. Although we have just celebrated the Mid-Autumn Festival and the Ghost Month is now over, I thought it would still be pertinent as “It” just came out. I remember wanting to submit this to a journal but chickening out at the last minute, and that there was a 300 word limit.
Anyway, here’s the story:
I belonged in the water but my mother forbade me to go swimming.
“It’s the Ghost month. If you go, the shui gui will get you,” she said. “Go ride a bike, play badminton, but stay away from the pool.”
I groaned. She truly believed that the dead wandered the world during this month. It was an old Chinese belief, nothing more, and I had to train for the swimming tournament. Besides, no shui gui or water ghost existed in this pool. Our apartment and pool were brand new.
Shui gui lived in the seas, rivers or lakes. I would be fine. I left my house and went to the pool. She couldn’t control me here. I was free in the water.
I swam laps. I had to beat Li Ping at the tourney. The pool got deeper and deeper as I swam, and the waters darker and darker. It happened when the sky was cloudy, but now it was black as ink.
I sank my head beneath it and saw someone who looked exactly like me. She had my face, my eyes, and my hair that floated the same way under water. I gasped. She dragged me down, and I spluttered as the water entered my lungs. She shoved me in the darkness, and then, I could breathe.
My body swam to the surface and dried itself. It looked down into the pool.
“You’re right,” it said. “You belong in the water.”
Featured image from SurFeRGiRL30