by Zoe C

Created on: March 08, 2008

Up the Downstream River

Paddles hit the water
Resistance of the current
With every stroke
My arms numb
Behind me a torrential drop
No choice but to go up stream
I cannot drift away

Swirling vortexes gather strength
Me against the river and the river is winning
I'm its next endangered species species
Fatigue sets in like the fog rising off the gray swirls
Exhaustion
The water breaks around me
Suddenly I see I'm not alone

A dark face stares up at me
Followed by another, then more
Manatees, swimming next to me
One moves to back
Helping to push my boat
Two of us, endangered species
Swim upstream together

One above the water, one in it
They follow me up the hill
And join me on the other side
What started as a fight to survive
Has turned into something magical
Well worth the struggle
Paddling up the downstream

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