While I Was Swimming At The Pool, The Lifeguard Asked Me, When Do You Think You’ll Drown? I Can Float For A Couple Minutes, Why? Don’t Move…
The lifeguard suddenly ordered everyone out of the swimming pool except me. I was left floating alone in twelve feet of water, terrified of whatever he had spotted beneath the surface.
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The Lifeguard Told Me Not to Move while I was swimming in the deep end of a public pool. Moments earlier, he’d asked a question that made absolutely no sense: how long did I think I could stay afloat? I told him I could manage a couple of minutes and asked why he needed to know. His response was terrifying. I wasn’t supposed to move or leave the water, no matter what happened. Everyone else needed to evacuate immediately. My voice shook as I asked what was in the pool, but he refused to answer. Instead, he raised his whistle and blew three sharp blasts.
The sound echoed across the swimming area. The lifeguard shouted for everyone to get out, making it clear this wasn’t a drill. Families rushed toward the ladders and steps. Parents grabbed their children, and frightened kids began crying as water splashed in every direction. Within seconds, the shallow end was almost empty. I desperately wanted to follow them, but I was floating in twelve feet of water, trying to obey the instruction I’d been given. The Lifeguard Told Me Not to Move, and the urgency in his voice convinced me that even a small movement might be dangerous.
I tried to keep my body balanced without splashing, but my arms were already becoming tired. The sun beat down on the pool while the water felt increasingly cold against my skin. Some families stopped behind the fence instead of leaving completely. A few shouted encouragement, telling me to breathe slowly and remain calm. Others pulled out their phones and began recording. I could see tiny red recording lights pointing toward me from different directions. Then three additional lifeguards appeared, carrying long-handled nets normally used to remove debris. They spread out around the pool, watching the water with expressions that made my fear worse.
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One lifeguard kept his net raised as though he expected something to emerge without warning. The others moved slowly along the edges, searching beneath the surface. I realized they weren’t looking for a lost object. They were hunting something.
My breathing became faster. I tried not to imagine what could be swimming near me.
Suddenly, a lifeguard near the diving board plunged his net into the water. The pole twisted violently as something heavy struggled against it. Two other guards rushed over to help.
Together, they lifted the net.
Inside was an alligator, thrashing and whipping its tail. It appeared to be about four feet long.
People watching from behind the fence gasped. Someone called animal control, and the lifeguards carefully carried the captured animal toward the pool house.
I thought that meant the danger was over.
But the lifeguard watching me didn’t relax. His eyes remained fixed on the water around my body.
Then I understood why.
There might be another one.
I asked whether I could finally climb out. He told me to stay still and pointed toward the deep end.
A dark shadow was moving across the bottom of the pool.
It was larger than the first alligator, and its movements were slow and deliberate. The other guards noticed it too, but their nets couldn’t reach something so deep.
One of them quietly said it was circling underneath me.
I began trembling, sending small ripples across the surface. Sometimes the shadow rose high enough for me to recognize its unmistakable shape. Then it descended again, disappearing into the blue.
The Lifeguard Told Me Not to Move, but every instinct in my body was screaming at me to escape.
And just as the guards tried to work out how to reach the creature beneath me, someone in the crowd screamed that another alligator had been spotted near the shallow-end steps.
