#isgrac

"So, um, we were trying to sneak out, because two of my cousins had been hunting frogs down near the river, and we wanted to see if we could catch one to show to my father. And a couple more for them to eat, probably, but they said they'd help me trap one for my father first. There's a place where a bridge goes over, and just past it one of the irrigation channels goes out, so someone widened that spot and put up a half-dike and made an artificial stone shore, and there's lilies in the water and a bench…."

"Anyway, that part doesn't matter, because the reason for this story is the half-dike had gotten broken in the first spring flood, and there was still snowmelt, and the water was still running high. My aunt asked us where we were going, so we said up to the third bridge, and she told us not to go too close to the water, because she wasn't coming along and she wasn't going to jump in after us if we were stupid enough to fall in. I, um, I think she thought the agricultural engineers would probably be out, because there are some fish farms along that stretch, but I don't think they were yet? Or maybe it was a rest day for them, or they couldn't work there until the half-dike was repaired, or- I don't remember. Just that it was early and chilly and there wasn't anyone else around when we got there."

"There weren't any frogs around either, because, um, there were a few waking up already that time of year, but it was too cold for them to be out in the mornings. Which we realized after we sniffed around on the rocks for a while, or, um, my cousins sniffed and I picked up rocks for them to sniff under. And then, because my father had been telling me about frogs the day before, that's why I wanted to bring him one, I said, maybe they were down in the mud in the riverbank? Hiding from the cold? And one of my cousins, the biggest and bravest and bossiest, said he would dig one out! And then he jumped in. And I, um, panicked and jumped in after him."

"Which I knew was stupid as soon as I jumped in, because the water was snowmelt, and along with running really fast and deep it was also freezing cold. I grabbed him around the neck, and all my muscles, uh, locked up? And so did his, I guess, because he was trying to swim but really badly, and we were being swept away downstream."

"The rest of my cousins went running yelling down the streets for someone to come help. And F- my aunt must have heard them howling, because we were going downstream, and I was getting water in my mouth and nose and starting to choke on it and all I could think about was that there was a waterfall coming up… and then we slammed into something, and it was my aunt, who'd jumped in the water, and she bit my cousin really hard to get a grip on us, she actually broke his leg grabbing on, and just sort of… shoved us both up onto the bank on the other side."