Page 3 of Sometimes You Stay

She didn’t so much hear a splash as feel it, her chest breaking the surface of the water with a clap. And then everything was silent. Except the rushing of her blood through her veins and the bubbles from the scream that insisted on ripping from her throat.

The water swallowed her, pressing in from every angle, squeezing her lungs, and dragging her down.

She opened her mouth to scream again, but the water rushed in. It was salty and heinous, and she couldn’t spit it out without inviting more in. When she blinked, she saw nothing but black. And then her eyes were on fire. Her throat gagging. Her lungs crying for air.

Her soaked jeans and sweater dragged her farther below the surface.

She clawed at the water, arms flailing to find anything she could pull herself up on.

Only then did she realize she was still holding her phone. And the open backpack on her shoulders—which contained every bit of electronic equipment she owned—was going to drown her.

Not today.

Scissors-kicking as hard as her denim-clad legs would allow, she fought for the surface, fought for even a single breath of air.

Come on. Come on.She could make it. She had to. The water couldn’t be that deep. She couldn’t have sunk too far.

Ditch the backpack.

Not going to happen. Not now. Not after everything she’d done to get to this point.

Just when her lungs were ready to implode, her head broke the surface and she snatched a breath. She also caught a glance of something huge and furry lunging off the cement dock right at her.

Bear.

Bear!

It was all she could think as a splash echoed through the water.

Perfect. If the water didn’t get her, a bear attack definitely would.

She could see the Instagram headlines already. POPULARTRAVELINFLUENCERMAULEDONGENTLEISLAND.

Oh, the irony.

Muscles trembling, she kicked toward the dock, praying one of those friendly fishermen would help her before her limbs gave out or the bear did any real damage. The rolling waves had carried her only a few yards from the cement wall, but from where she struggled just to keep her head above water, it seemed an impossible distance.

Suddenly an enormous hairy head slid under her arm. Pushing against its snout, she fought for freedom. If she lost a finger or even a whole hand to its razor-sharp teeth, so be it. At least she’d be alive.

She tried to kick and scream, but the water prevented both, her legs useless, moving in slow motion. Sinking, she held her breath.

Every moment, she expected the pain of the animal’s bite. Maybe it had already come, but the freezing water kept her fully in shock.

Her head broke the surface again, and she gasped a deep breath, filling her aching lungs until they remembered their job. With no more strength to fight, she let the animal at her side propel her.

A hand came out of nowhere, snatched her under the other arm, and pulled her up and over the edge of the dock like each of her limbs didn’t weigh a million pounds. She was pretty sure they did at this point.

Then someone was ripping off her backpack, and she fought their hands.

“Calm down. It’s okay. I’m not stealing your bag.”

She’d heard that from a pickpocket in Europe too. But before she could turn far enough to get a grip on her backpack, an enormous hand thwapped her between her shoulder blades. Then again. Harbor water and bile burst out of her, and she folded over, leaning on a trembling arm at her side.

“Would someone help Joe Jr. out of the water?”

The words reached her as though she was still underwater. They weren’t for her. She was pretty sure. But she didn’t know where or who they came from.

Another coughing fit tore from her throat, and she squeezed her stinging eyes shut. When she could finally breathe normally again, she risked a squint into the sun.

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