“Pearl,” I finally say, shaking my head, my tired eyes blinking slow and heavy.

“Grampy,” you whisper. “It’s true. All of it.”

The Other Side

When I went under, the very next moment I didn’t feel cold anymore. I felt like I was one with the water, like I was water, and I grabbed the stone walls and pulled myself through the darkness. I kept my eyes open, and I’ve never seen water that was so clear. I could see the light from the flashlight laying a skin of glaring white on the top of the water, but that wasn’t the only light—there was something in front of me, something farther along the tunnel that was lighting up the water.

I kept going, holding my breath. Every so often, a few bubbles would escape through my nose. I didn’t get very far before I felt like I was going to burst.

That’s when I saw it.

Just as I thought I was going to run out of air, when I thought I’d have to take in a big breath, lights started shooting past me, like those veins of light in the rock. It was like seeing shooting stars, but they were all around me. Up ahead it got even brighter. I thought I was going to make it. I pulled myself farther through the water and saw that it was about to open up above me—I was through the tunnel! I could see it! It wasn’t night there, above the water. It was beautiful and bright, a new world waiting for me above the surface, the brightest greens and blues. And as I got closer, I had this feeling that it wasn’t an ordinary place—it was someplace very special.

But as I started rising, I realized the surface was a lot farther away than I thought, and those lights started flashing past me again, and I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I felt like I was running out of air, like I had to take in a deep breath.

Eventually, I couldn’t hold my breath anymore. I gave in. I took in the deepest breath I’ve ever taken, and my lungs filled, and the lights went out. I thought I had died, Grampy. I thought that was it. I started floating down toward the bottom.

But then something pulled on my foot, dragging me back through the tunnel of water, back through the darkness. The person or whatever it was dragged me through until I burst up out of the water on the near side of the tunnel, back where I had started.

I was gasping for air, choking, and someone else was there too, coughing and spitting up water. I reached quickly for my flashlight and saw, Grampy. It was her.

“What are you doing?” I whispered. “I was almost there.”

“You were dying. If you die, you can’t come back here again. I had to bring you back. You’re no good to me dead.”

I stared at her. “I thought you couldn’t go there. I thought only I could go get whatever it is I’m supposed to get.”