dolphins and butterflies

The water fairy (that’s me!) squatted by the side of the old seventies pool, looking on his left. There were kids at each swimming line in the pool, doing their swimming like dolphins. Their butterfly strokes were effortless, and they can do a few laps without gasping for air.

It is fun to be like these children, having a proper swimming class and aiming for tournaments.

Wearing my own unique orange and gray low cut BodyKnits, I went inside the pool, slowly. It’s quite strange that the pool is always at the right temperature, regardless of the weather.

Sometimes a friend of mine would insanely invite me to his pool at 9 pm after a heavy rain, and the water would be as cold as the North Pole. The water fairy sometimes had to follow his friend, the Snow Queen, at such odd timing and shiver in the pool.

“Promise me now, Rose, that you will never give up, no matter what happened.”

The seventies pool wouldn’t be as unfriendly as that chilly pool. It would always be inviting, with its serene old school design, and with many people who came to swim, giving me the mood to swim too, even when I was initially feeling tired and weary after a long day.

The Snow Queen always tried to coach me doing butterfly strokes. That fine day, in the seventies pool, I decided to try and practice my strokes.

A few legs strokes with the arms static in front. That went well.

And a few arm strokes with my feet clinging at the side of the pool. I felt like a fool.

A few of both combining together. I looked like a helpless Titanic victim trying to kick Rose from her floating door.

But I really want to able to do butterfly strokes.

Like one of dramatis student’s said affirmably;

“I want…”

So I tried again a few days after that.

My butterfly strokes started taking shape in its chrysalis.

One day the water fairy will become a perfect pretty water butterfly..