the water ahead as the riverbank gave way and the water piled up behind it momentarily. Rian lunged for a branch and got a hold. Genie emerged, gasping for breath, and grabbed a branch. This river wasn’t stopping for any tree, the surge of cold river water continued to swirl and churn. The tree began to roll.
‘Let go, let go,’ Rian shouted to Genie, but she was gone already.
‘Genie? GENIE?’
He let the current take him again. He had to find her.
The speed of the water was amazing. Now he was desperate. ‘GENIE?’
Genie was spinning as the water propelled her ahead.
She couldn’t believe they were separated and she knew that if she didn’t get something solid to hold on to real
soon, she’d flounder. The water wanted to pull her under and it was so very cold.
‘Genie?’ She heard his cry, thought it was to her left.
More in the middle.
‘Ri. Ri, I’m over here. Ri!’
She felt something bump her. She grabbed it and it wriggled. She could see nothing but it was strange to touch and it moved again. Suddenly its head surfaced.
A pig! It was alive. Must have swallowed a ton of water, but it was alive and she grabbed its head to keep it above the water. The pig struggled a little but she kept a firm grip and talked to it. ‘Keep breathing. You’ll be OK. We’ll both be OK.’
Just saying it calmed her, the weight of the animal slowed her down and made her think survival . She could swim. She’d learned first aid and she knew how to save lives in a pool. The flash flood was crazy but she leaned back into the flow and pulled the pig with her, got her arms under his forelegs and kept both their heads out of the water. No one would ever believe it, she realized.
There wouldn’t be anyone to tell either. She was gone from Spurlake forever. The flood was her parting gift from a place that had given her years of misery. The pig squealed, but she gripped it tight and it must have sensed that she was helping. She hoped so at least. A surge of
water took them forward again and they moved at speed out of the main stream where the riverbank had given way.
Lightning struck a truck nearby and it burst into flames. For one complete second she could see everything.
Fifty metres away, damaged cars were all piled up against the walls of a giant glass tower, like so many broken toys, two vehicles burning brightly now, helping her get her bearings.
Lightning exploded to her left again, momentarily illuminating the glass building. Genie frowned. Where?
How? This was the middle of nowhere; who would want to build an office tower here? Men in fire uniforms with intense bright flashlights were running everywhere inside it trying to stop the water from flooding the building. She shouted out but no one was listening.
Dangerous showers of sparks were spilling down from overhead power cables. Genie and the pig were spinning around now, both spitting out foul-tasting water and then abruptly they found direction again and moved on, swept away into darkness.
Rian found himself among huge floating logs. This was dangerous. Hold on too tight and another log could roll on to yours and crush you. ‘Genie?’ he yelled again,
growing hoarse now. It began to rain again. Lashing it down like before and visibility completely disappeared.
He felt despair. He’d lost her. He’d saved her and lost her in one night and he’d live with the guilt for the rest of his life.
There were huge bright sparks up ahead and the lights on the hills blinked out. He suddenly knew exactly where they were. Up ahead somewhere was the hydro power station on a river bend. Half the water would go to the power station; the rest would be diverted by way of a channel to the lower level. There were giant metal grilles to divert debris and keep the logs to one side on their journey to the coast. Now Rian was worried that a whole lot of stuff was going to pile up in one place and they would be caught up in this heap and crushed.
Something crashed
‘Let go, let go,’ Rian shouted to Genie, but she was gone already.
‘Genie? GENIE?’
He let the current take him again. He had to find her.
The speed of the water was amazing. Now he was desperate. ‘GENIE?’
Genie was spinning as the water propelled her ahead.
She couldn’t believe they were separated and she knew that if she didn’t get something solid to hold on to real
soon, she’d flounder. The water wanted to pull her under and it was so very cold.
‘Genie?’ She heard his cry, thought it was to her left.
More in the middle.
‘Ri. Ri, I’m over here. Ri!’
She felt something bump her. She grabbed it and it wriggled. She could see nothing but it was strange to touch and it moved again. Suddenly its head surfaced.
A pig! It was alive. Must have swallowed a ton of water, but it was alive and she grabbed its head to keep it above the water. The pig struggled a little but she kept a firm grip and talked to it. ‘Keep breathing. You’ll be OK. We’ll both be OK.’
Just saying it calmed her, the weight of the animal slowed her down and made her think survival . She could swim. She’d learned first aid and she knew how to save lives in a pool. The flash flood was crazy but she leaned back into the flow and pulled the pig with her, got her arms under his forelegs and kept both their heads out of the water. No one would ever believe it, she realized.
There wouldn’t be anyone to tell either. She was gone from Spurlake forever. The flood was her parting gift from a place that had given her years of misery. The pig squealed, but she gripped it tight and it must have sensed that she was helping. She hoped so at least. A surge of
water took them forward again and they moved at speed out of the main stream where the riverbank had given way.
Lightning struck a truck nearby and it burst into flames. For one complete second she could see everything.
Fifty metres away, damaged cars were all piled up against the walls of a giant glass tower, like so many broken toys, two vehicles burning brightly now, helping her get her bearings.
Lightning exploded to her left again, momentarily illuminating the glass building. Genie frowned. Where?
How? This was the middle of nowhere; who would want to build an office tower here? Men in fire uniforms with intense bright flashlights were running everywhere inside it trying to stop the water from flooding the building. She shouted out but no one was listening.
Dangerous showers of sparks were spilling down from overhead power cables. Genie and the pig were spinning around now, both spitting out foul-tasting water and then abruptly they found direction again and moved on, swept away into darkness.
Rian found himself among huge floating logs. This was dangerous. Hold on too tight and another log could roll on to yours and crush you. ‘Genie?’ he yelled again,
growing hoarse now. It began to rain again. Lashing it down like before and visibility completely disappeared.
He felt despair. He’d lost her. He’d saved her and lost her in one night and he’d live with the guilt for the rest of his life.
There were huge bright sparks up ahead and the lights on the hills blinked out. He suddenly knew exactly where they were. Up ahead somewhere was the hydro power station on a river bend. Half the water would go to the power station; the rest would be diverted by way of a channel to the lower level. There were giant metal grilles to divert debris and keep the logs to one side on their journey to the coast. Now Rian was worried that a whole lot of stuff was going to pile up in one place and they would be caught up in this heap and crushed.
Something crashed
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