Splashing
saturday stories! i missed last week's friday story so i'm really happy to have another chance to do this one! so! @cawolters and @inexorableblob here's my story! i've been finding a whole bunch of warmcore stuff so i have inspiration now! anyway let's go!
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"Oh, sorry!"
The summer festival is in wild swing, people cheering to music and converging into a massive crowd round the lake. It's still late morning, around ten A.M., with the whole throng creating an excited, carefree atmosphere that matches the festivities perfectly.
Of course, the whole thing isn't perfect. If it was, Maisie's pretty sure she wouldn't have knocked a girl straight into the lake.
"Are you okay?!" she asks, quickly kneeling down and grabbing tight hold of the other girl's hands. She's not that strong, but she's strong enough to at least make sure the girl doesn't sink. There's a surprised laugh, and the girl props herself up onto the ground, her legs kicking skillfully in the water.
Dad's going to kill me if she dies, Maisie thinks. Oh, thank god she isn't dead.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" The girl waves away Maisie's worry quickly, flashing a fearless smile and looking up at her with the brightest brown eyes she's ever seen. Her hair is sticking wetly to her face and her hands must have dirt clinging to them from where she's keeping hold on the ground, but all Maisie can think is god, she's pretty. "You just knocked me over, is all! I'm fine over here."
"Still, I should have been more careful." Maisie flushes, looking away from the site of her little accident. "I was carrying all these things for my dad and I was too focused on not dropping the basket and I bumped you and I'm really, really sorry!"
"Like I said, it's okay! At least I have an excuse to swim." The girl pushes away from the ground a little, keeping herself afloat just by the shore. "My name's Anne! What's yours?"
"Maisie." Do people normally introduce themselves right after these kinds of things? She thought that only happened in books and bedtime stories. "Are- Are your parents going to be okay with this? I mean, your dress is really pretty, and now it's all soaked-"
"That's fine, too. No-one minds." Anne waves a hand nonchalantly, once again convincing her that there isn't a problem. "You said you were carrying some stuff for your dad?"
"Yeah! He's operating one of the stalls, and he asked if I wanted to get some of the apples for him, and- oh, no!" Maisie looks further out onto the lake, where there are a few bright red apples bobbing away into the deep water she can't reach. "Oh, I messed up-"
Anne turns, catching sight of the same thing. "Those aren't that many. It's fine, right?"
I messed up, I messed up, I messed up-
Maisie is intensely aware of how close she is to crying right now.
"Hey! Are you okay?" Her new friend- friend? Is she a friend now?- turns back to her, concern making lines on her face. "Hey, no, don't cry! Do you want me to get them for you?"
"What? But-"
"I'll get them!" Anne declares, turning and propelling herself further into the lake with a splash that reminds Maisie incredibly of the one she made when she'd fallen. Maisie cries out, further fear spiking in her veins at the sight of Anne's dark form bobbing like the apples between the current. Her dad isn't actually going to kill her for losing some apples. But if she got a girl drowned she'd definitely go to prison, and that'd be even worse!
"Anne, no-!"
"I got one!" As if she hadn't given Maisie a heart attack, Anne swims a little closer to shore. She lobs a wet apple at Maisie proudly. It brains her in the forehead and plops back into the water, but Maisie gasps and pulls it back towards herself before it can float away. "I'll get the other two, don't worry!"
"I'm worrying! I'm worrying a whole bunch right now!"
She doesn't think Anne hears her. The girl is grabbing the remaining two now, taking a few moments to steady herself in the water before throwing them again. One lands on the ground beside Maisie, rolling to a stop a little behind her, while the other lands squarely on her lap.
"Score!" Anne laughs, making her way back with that bright smile still on her face. She is unfairly calm about this. Incredibly unfairly. "Again, thanks for giving me the excuse to swim, Maisie!"
"... You're welcome." Maisie looks away. She's not sure how exactly to respond to this. "Thank you for getting back my apples."
"Speaking of, shouldn't you get those back to your dad?"
"Oh, yeah!" Maisie shoots up, grabbing the three apples and shoving them quickly into the large basket she'd been carrying. "Right! Thank you! I have to go!"
"I'll see you sometime," Anne promises, waving Maisie off. "Bye, Maisie! Good luck getting to the stall!"
Distractedly, Maisie waves back before taking off towards her dad's stall. Maybe this time, she'll make it without any more accidents.
