Face Your Freaking Fears!

It took place at the swimming pool of building P.

A wary lady casted both eyes out, scanning the large rectangular pool for her nieces. Both appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely at the shallow end whilst their swimming instructor, a middle-aged Chinese man, shouted tips at the advanced group who were freestyling back towards him from the other end. Laughter and chatter (in the form of screaming) above the sloshing sounds made by the advanced group filled the air. The lady stopped watching and turned her portable mp3 on, plugging in the earphones, blocking the background noise. Wary, that she was, but even more weary of the noise itself. She couldn't even fathom the real reason behind her irritability that day, casting 'that' time of the month as her prime suspect. Sighing slightly, she turned towards the mp3 player and began playing one of the boring games pre-installed in it to pass the time. Solitaire. Joy.

Suddenly, as if on some sort of unheard and unseen cue, she stopped the music and plugged the earphones out, glancing up from the mp3 player to be met with the sight of a young boy shrieking against the pull of two other young boys, who were apparently dragging him to the deeper end of the pool. She remembered the young boy as the one who had enquired her earlier as to the depth of the deeper end of the pool, the response of which was a mere smile. Of course, it's so deep you would drown, the smile said. The boy seemed to fathom and, edging excitedly while holding the edges of the pool, retreated to the shallow end.

And now he was shrieking and screaming as he was being dragged against his own will by two boys around his age to that very end he was avoiding.

Now this lady was intrigued. She had put stashed away her mp3 player but made no move to approach the boys, the shrieking one looking at her pleadingly, fear apparent in his eyes whilst his screams gradually increased in volume and shrilliness. Bemused, she raised her eyebrows, casting an eye to the other end of the pool. Despite its size, which she was sure wasn't that big for other people to have missed the scene playing out before her, the swimming instructor was minding his own business as he attempted to teach a five year old to kick his legs and float. The other kids were enjoying themselves and talking to one another, unaware as well. A few parents sitting at the opposite side of the pool were chatting animatedly and seemed engrossed in their own babble; the security guards who were around the pool just a few minutes earlier, vanished. All the while her ears picked up the conversation between the three boys.

'I DON'T WANNA GO THERE!' Eyes still locked at her, willing her to stop the boys terrorizing him.
'You little wimp, LOOK! People your age are already pros at this swimming thing! When the hell are you ever gonna learn?' The boy tugging him, snarling as he persisted in dragging the kicking, thrashing boy who struggled against his grip- all in vain.
'NO! It's deep! Please, please, let me-'
'LISTEN, you chicken! If we don't do this you won't ever learn! There's nothing to be scar-'
'LET ME GOOO!'

The lady shuffled her feet on the tile, yet her body made no move towards the protesting boy. At that instant, she knew she had no reason to worry. Sure enough, ten seconds later the two boys released the 'chicken' resignedly, shaking their heads, and the latter tearfully dragged himself away whilst holding on the edge of the pool for dear life. The 'pro group'of the swimming lesson swam past the scene obliviously, sloshing water all over the seemingly traumatized boy whilst his former captors began freestyling to the other end along with them. She smiled, more amused than encouragingly at the boy, before whipping out her mp3 player again.