Looking at the others and smiling at Muriel also helped, as did concentrating on checking air pressure and depth gauge. Andrew found he could clearly see all the details on the others. With fascinated pleasure he watched Muriel’s hair swaying in the current. The sparkle of sunlight reflected through tiny air bubbles which clung to parts of her equipment enchanted him. He watched her breathing and the swirls of ascending bubbles. That got him watching his own and listening to the gush and roar of his own breathing. Consciously he slowed and steadied his breath.
And then it was time. With beating heart Andrew watched as Sub Lt Sheldon indicated that Luke should remove his face mask. Luke did so, making it appear very easy. Then Carmen did the same. At each second Andrew felt more anxious, mainly because he did not want to panic. Then it was his turn. ‘Get it over with quickly,’ he told himself.
Taking a deep breath he reached up and firmly pulled the mask off, holding it as he had been taught. ‘Breathe normally,’ he reminded himself. Opening his eyes he blinked and realized he could see reasonably well. He was also reassured that no water had gone up his nose and that he was able to keep breathing with good steady breaths. That reassured him and he knew he could swim without the mask if he had to.
‘Ok, mask back on,’ he told himself.
It was easy. A few seconds later he was busy blowing air through his nose to clear the water out. That worked too and he was able to blink the saltwater clear and look out at a nodding Sub Lt Sheldon. ‘Done it!’ Andrew thought with elation.
Then he worried lest Muriel have trouble. Anxiously he turned to watch and was relieved to see that she did it with apparent ease, her face looking calm the whole time. For a few seconds their eyes met and Andrew managed an ‘OK’ sign and a smile. Then, to hide his embarrassment and confusion he looked away, pretending to be interested in the marine life.
To his own surprise he found it both fascinating and beautiful. ‘Just like on TV,’ he thought, remembering all the nature programs he had seen. This impression was reinforced when Sub Lt Sheldon swam along checking their remaining air, then signalled for them to follow him in pairs. As he led off Andrew began to fin after him, Muriel keeping pace beside him.
To Andrew’s dismay Sub Lt Sheldon swam out through one of the gaps in the coral to the outside of the reef. Then he turned left and swam along, keeping just clear of the wall of coral growths. Close below them the sand sloped steeply off into the blue gloom. Just thinking about what might lurk out there got Andrew’s anxiety level up again but he also found his attention continually drawn back to the amazing coral formations and incredibly colourful and varied marine life living among it.
After a few minutes Sub Lt Sheldon turned left and led them into a deep ‘gully’ a few metres wide. This wound its way back into the reef and Andrew relaxed and began to enjoy the swim, his head continually turning to look at things, and to check that the others were following.
Only then did it dawn on him. ‘We are just sightseeing,’ he thought. ‘We have finished our course. I have done it! I have qualified! I won’t ever have to take my face mask off underwater again!’
Relief flooded through him and he felt a sense of euphoria and sheer pleasure. For the next few minutes he just swam happily along admiring the beauties of the reef. Then his anxiety ebbed even more when Sub Lt Sheldon led them back through a cluster of coral outcrops to where the anchor line ran up to the float and boat. When he signalled to surface Andrew wanted to shout with joy.
On reaching the surface he did take out his regulator and grin. Muriel grinned back and all the others seemed to be chattering happily. But then Andrew remembered that they were still right on the edge of the reef and of that deep water. He inflated his BCD so that he floated easily and as he rose on each wave he looked towards the island, feeling worried about how small and far away it looked.
It was a relief when they began the swim ashore. To Andrew it seemed to take forever and he was niggled by the others continually stopping to look at things along the way. The group swam on the surface using snorkels as they were butting into the small waves and heading up against the current. That taxed Andrew’s fitness as well but he forced himself to keep swimming, not wanting to have Muriel think he was weak.
And now thoughts of Muriel began to dominate. ‘How can I ask her for a date?’ he wondered. Remembering the earlier problem of her parents thinking she was too young to be going out he considered what options there were. ‘A group to the movies or ten pin bowling or something,’ he decided. But how to ask her?
That now loomed as an even harder test than taking off the face mask underwater!
After what seemed like a marathon swim the group reached the shallows beside the pier and then stopped to remove fins. By then Andrew felt so tired he was almost staggering but he gritted his teeth and plodded gamely up the beach, the weight of his gear feeling like a crushing load. It took him a real effort to pretend he was fine while he helped Muriel remove her air tank and BCD. Then she did the same for him and he sighed with relief. The weight belt came off next and then everything was dismantled and packed in the boxes.
Last of all the wet suits were peeled off. That got Andrew’s mind going again as the girls swimsuits were again revealed. To his eyes Muriel looked just perfect and he bit his lip and began looking for an opportunity to ask her. But what to say? And how to say it? It all seemed very difficult and he became all anxious again.
What he wanted was a chance to get Muriel on her own so that the others might not see his failure. However no such chance seemed to arise. She went off to the toilet with the other girls and after Andrew had done the same and they met up again at the shop it was time to walk back out along the pier to the ferry.
In a concealed fever of anxiety Andrew strolled along beside Muriel, chatting to her and agreeing easily enough that the dive had been great and that it was wonderful to be a qualified diver. It was, but his focus was now on her. In his own mind Andrew had firmly resolved never to go diving again. He was also torn up by the desire to hold her hand again but felt paralysed with anxiety, scared lest she think him too pushy or too possessive. So he walked beside her, his hand tingling from the intensity of his thoughts.
On the ferry things were a bit easier. The group gathered on the upper deck in the shade and Andrew made sure he was seated beside Muriel. As the ferry manoeuvred away from the pier and turned to make its way out through the narrow channel in the reef Andrew’s attention was taken up by the ship handling and by looking down into the water. Then he was spurred by a sharp stab of jealousy when he saw Blake put his arm around Shona. She snuggled against him and it was obvious that Blake’s arms were firmly up under Shona’s bosom.
Andrew so badly wanted to do that with Muriel that his mouth went dry and he felt quite sick in the stomach with worry. ‘How do I go about it?’ he worried. He could not even bring himself to touch Muriel. When her knee accidentally touched his he almost jumped and hastily moved his own leg away, his heart rate shooting up. Then he wondered if that was not the tactic to try. ‘If she moves away then I will know she doesn’t want that and I can stop,’ he reasoned.
But easier thought about than put into action!
Somehow it happened anyway. A larger than usual wave caused her to lean firmly against him. To keep her balance she put her hand on his thigh and he grabbed her upper arm.
“Sorry,” she said, her eyes meeting his.
“My pleasure,” he murmured back.
To his surprise she leaned against him and said, “You are really sweet!”
Before he thought about it Andrew returned her smile and took her hand in his. Even as he wondered if he had made a mistake she smiled and snuggled against him. To Andrew it was as though the sun