THE HAUNTED POOL

 Wind swirled around the starting blocks, whipping the pools surface into whitecaps as ten swimmers lined up for the final race of the day.   The four Mako swimmers—- Stella, Keagan, Evelina, and Maggie stood ready to race their first 1000 free, their hearts pounding and butterflies fluttering in their stomachs.  “1000 free,” the ghost starter announced.  “Swimmers, take your marks ….BEEEEP! “ The swimmers exploded from the blocks into the depths below.

The race was going smoothly until Keagan reached his 17th lap and heard a strange gurgling sound rising

from the depths below.  He remembered those stories from the older mako swimmers like Nick and Anna about the swimmer who disappeared years ago during this exact race and how he came back every Halloween looking for the next swimmer to snatch away.  At first Keagan had thought they were trying to make this race seem scarier than it was-–but then on that flip on the 17th lap he felt a sight tug on his feet as they met the wall as if it was pulling him through the wall. 

As Keagan pushed off the wall, Coach Mike’s. Warning flashed through his mind: never look back after a turn.  He looked anyway.  A dark figure hovered behind him, perfectly still, though its shadow stretched across the pool floor towards his feet.  Then the wall split open without a sound, and a kraken unfolded from the darkness, its long tentacles curling into his lane.  Keagan kicked harder than he ever had, but something cold tightened around his ankles and pulled him down.  His shout dissolved into bubbles.  Above him, the race continued—- but another Keagan was swimming in his lane, matching his stroke perfectly.  It turned to breathe, looked straight down at him, and smiled.

When the race ended, Maggie, Evelina, and Stella watched the swimmer in Keagan’s lane climb out without a word.  Then a hand broke the surface behind him—-the real Keagan was still trapped below.  

The three of them reached for him, but the kraken’s tentacles held tight.  Coach Heather seized a pole from the pool wall and thrust it towards the creature’s eye.  Its grip loosened, and together they pulled Keagan onto the deck.  Shivering and dazed, Keagan looked up at his teammates.  “What was that—-and what was my time?”   No one laughed.  Coach Mike closed the pool that night, but as the last light clicked off, the scoreboard flickered back on.  Beside Keagan’s name where his time should have been, two words glowed: NEXT HALLOWEEN.

AUTHORS: ARIAL, STELLA EVELINA MAGGIE.  Edits coach Mike