Thursday: July 30, 2020

Emma Morgan laughed with delight as she and her two friends, Jazmine and Kayla, splashed around in the shallow waters of Wickham Lake. The girls were looking forward to their Senior year but preferred the freedom that summer brought.

Emma was known as the “smart kid” in school and was determined to make Valedictorian next year. Everyone knew she was destined for great things, sometimes making her peers a little jealous. Emma didn’t let that get her down. She figured she’d rather be smart than pretty. Any fool could be pretty.

Jazmine Lee hit Emma on the head with a purple pool noodle and grinned mischievously as if reading her mind. Unlike Emma, Jazmine was a true beauty. Her flawless ebony skin glistened with drops of water and her long, lovely black curls were meticulously tucked in a swimming cap. She was easily the most gorgeous girl at school and she knew it. Unlike most good-looking girls, however, she was not stuck-up or vain. She wanted to go to Easthallow University like her sister Tess so she worked hard for her grades. Nobody got a scholarship to that college for being pretty – or, as Emma liked to say, “pulchritudinous.”

Unlike her friends, Kayla Miller had little interest in higher education. Her grades were passing but not great. What she lacked in beauty and smarts, she more than made up for with courage. She had to be bold when dealing with her family, especially her older brother Andy. She came from a rough family and had no problem telling people exactly what she thought. Her shoulder-length red hair complemented her pale skin and the ever-present spray of freckles on her face. She didn’t have Jazmine’s allure, but Kayla was cute enough and unafraid to go after what she wanted. She had fought with a couple of girls last year over some boy and was known as a bit of a troublemaker. Jazmine and Emma were both a good influence on Kayla, however. When she was around her two friends, she kept her behavior in check.

The girls would go their separate ways in less than a year and, despite their plans to the contrary, Emma knew they would probably lose touch. She didn’t want to think about that now - none of them did. They were determined to enjoy every moment of fun they could.

They giggled at the attention they were getting from some of the boys nearby. Scott Johnson and his friends were laughing and sneaking looks at the girls as they played with a beach ball. Rumor had it that Kayla had slept with Scott last year, but Emma didn’t believe it. Kayla accepted Jazmine as a friend, but she would never date a black guy. Her family didn’t believe in that sort of thing.

Jazmine nudged Emma, “Hey, don’t look now but Cody Mitchell’s watching you.”

Before she realized what she was doing, Emma glanced at Cody.

“Hey!” Jazmine elbowed her. “I told you not to look!”

Emma couldn’t help it. She’d had a crush on Cody for a few months now but doubted she’d ever get a chance to date him. Cody was good-looking with his wavy brown hair and easy smile. He was popular, a football player. He could have any girl he wanted. There was no way he’d be interested in her.

And yet, Cody was staring at her and not in a creepy way. He saw Emma’s brief glance at him and whispered something to his buddies. They made their way over to the girls and Scott asked, “Can we join you ladies?”

Emma blushed as Jazmine asked, “Of course. What are you guys up to?”

“Oh,” Jay Collins, the youngest of the three boys, said, “we were going to play a little water volleyball. You game?”

Kayla smirked, “You don’t mind getting beaten by a girl?”

“What makes you think you can beat us?” Scott asked.

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Jazmine laughed, “Because your boy can’t keep his eye on the ball.” She nodded in Cody’s direction. Now it was Cody’s turn to blush. Emma was mortified.

“No volleyball then,” Scott replied. “Got any other ideas?” He grinned knowingly at Jazmine, who bopped him over the head with her pool noodle.

“I have an idea,” purred Kayla. “How about a chicken fight?”

Jay smiled slyly in Kayla’s direction. “Do you want to ride me, baby? Or do you want me to ride you?” He had quite the reputation for getting into as many girls’ pants as he could.

She moved closer to him and said in a sultry tone, “I’m more than you can handle.”

“Let’s find out,” Jay said. “Kayla will be my partner. Scott, you and Jazmine team up. And Cody, you’re with Emma.”

As the other four made their way to their respective partners, Cody looked at Emma and asked, “Are you ok with this?”

“Yes,” Emma replied shyly.

“Hop on then,” Cody offered her his shoulders.

They played for half an hour: Kayla on Jay, Jazmine on Scott, and Emma on Cody. The girls used their pool noodles to splash each other and joust, each one trying to knock the others off the boys’ shoulders. It was all fun and games until Kayla, trying to hit Emma with her pool noodle, accidentally slapped Cody hard in the face. He went down backward into the water with Emma right behind him.

Surprised, Emma did not have time to hold her breath. She tumbled backward into the lake and hit her head on a large limb that was just below the surface of the shallow water, knocking her unconscious. Her nose filled with lake water. Her trachea spasmed, trying to protect her lungs from the encroaching water. She felt none of it, cradled as she was, in silent oblivion.

Suddenly, Cody’s strong arms lifted Emma out of the water, and he carried her to the shore. The other four teens quickly followed suit and gathered around as Cody laid Emma on the dry ground.

“Call 911!” Jazmine shouted, and Scott ran for his cell phone.

Kayla, horrified that she had hurt her friend, sobbed, “Emma, wake up! Oh, God, I’m so sorry…”

Cody lowered his face next to Emma’s mouth and was relieved to find that the girl was breathing. “She’s ok. She’s just unconscious is all.” He was glad that he had been a lifeguard last year or he might not have known what to do. He put Emma in the recovery position: left arm bent on the ground with palm up, right hand above the left shoulder, right knee bent. He gently turned her over on her left side, now stable on the ground, and raised her chin a bit so she could breathe more easily.

The girl stirred and immediately coughed out a little lake water. Her lungs ached but her head felt even worse. She blew as much water out of her nose as she could. Emma realized how close she had come to drowning. “What happened?”

“It’s all ok now,” Cody smiled at her and she smiled back at him feebly.

Scott ran up to them and announced that an ambulance was on its way.

Emma waved them away, “Tell them to cancel it. I’m fine.”

“You should really get checked out,” Cody said.

“You’re the one who should get checked out,” Emma said. “Your nose is bleeding.”

Cody instinctively put his hand to his nose and shrugged at the blood on his fingers. “It’s just a nosebleed – no big deal.”

Kayla turned to Cody. “I’m so sorry, both of you. I never meant to hurt you.”

Emma nodded and Cody patted Kayla on the shoulder. “It’s all right, Kayla. We know you didn’t.”

The ambulance arrived and a couple of EMTs rushed to the scene. Jazmine told them what happened and Kayla fell sobbing into Jay’s embrace. They quickly determined that neither teen was seriously injured but recommended that Emma go to the hospital for further observation. Despite Emma’s crush on Cody, she readily agreed. She felt a headache coming on.

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The entity initiated the amoeba’s transformation from cyst to flagellate to trophozoite. The thing’s pseudopods filled with protoplasm and it began to move steadily upward, consuming cells as it went. The entity felt a wicked glee as it further altered the tiny creature’s DNA. It would not just infect its host - it would spread the entity’s poison as far as possible. Naegleria fowleri, the “brain-eating” amoeba, was on the move.