Hide and go Sink

                           by Patrick Colin Jackson
                                    (f, qs)


AUTHOR'S NOTE

This  story  is  dedicated  with love and respect to its inspiration: real-life
Purdue  University  baton-twirler Nicole Ferree, the first Girl-In-Black of the
New  Millennium. Wherever she is now, I wish her the same degree of fulfillment
throughout  her  life that she has achieved from being one of Purdue's "Feature
Twirlers." Remember: BOILERS COOK!

P.S. I don't actually know how many brothers or sisters Nicole has, if any. But
I  hope  that  her relationships with all those she does have, be they older or
younger,  make  her (and them!) feel as special and appreciated as she deserves
to  feel ... even if none of them has ever really had to save her life. (Or she
theirs!)  Such  an attractive and accomplished young lady as Nicole deserves no
less.

                                       *

Nicole  sighed.  Why  did  this  happen  to her every time she baby-sat for her
9-year-old  brother?  She  stood  on  the porch shouting his name, but the only
reply came from the wind blowing in the tree tops. There was no sign of Trevor,
no trace. She descended the steps and entered the courtyard.

Nicole  Gere  (no  relation  to Richard, although that got brought up by almost
everyone  she  met) was a strikingly attractive teenage girl, proud of her sexy
appearance.  Her  life-long love of dance/choreography and rhythmic gymnastics,
plus  a standout performance in Purdue University's Student-Honors Program, had
brought  her  from  the relatively-dreary status of "student government" to the
coveted  title  of  Girl  In  Black  ...  in  other  words,  one  of the "Solo"
Baton-Twirlers in Purdue's All-American Marching Band.

One  of  the biggest perks that went with being a Solo Twirler was the uniform:
an  beautiful  black  sequin-and-velvet  leotard  with  gold  trim  and fringe,
complemented  with  knee-high black boots. Nicole dry-cleaned that leo at least
weekly,  and  she always spit-shined those boots prior to every performance she
gave.  Actually,  she  had two like uniforms: one sleeveless, one long-sleeved.
For now, she wore the sleeveless one.

Nicole  was  in  a  hurry.  Their parents would be home in an hour, and she was
supposed to have given Trevor his dinner by then. An hour after that, there was
a Purdue Boilers' pre-game rally she was supposed to perform for.

Nicole  had  just  learned  a  very  important  lesson the hard way: never play
hide-and-go-seek  with  your  little  brother  after  making  big plans for the
evening  ...  particularly  not  when  your  kid  brother  was  as  good  at
hide-and-go-seek  as Trevor. Every time she hid, he always seemed able to sniff
her  out  somehow.  Every  time  /he/ hid, he managed to find a place she never
would  have thought to look. Tonight, at first, she hadn't bothered to look for
him; she'd just prepared supper, assuming the smells of her cooking would flush
him out of hiding. They hadn't.

Now  outside, for the first time, she noticed what a lovely evening it was. The
setting  sun  played  off  her boots and leo, making them glisten. She strolled
around  the  courtyard,  admiring  the look and feel of her uniform, the way it
flattered  her  sleek bare legs. Yet she couldn't bring herself to really enjoy
it all, at least not yet.

"So  now  where's Trevor?" Nicole asked herself and shouted his name once more,
even though she knew it was useless. One by one, she thought of places where he
usually  went  to  play  when outdoors. Actually, he didn't seem to be anywhere
near  the  house,  much  less in it. He wasn't at the clubhouse that he and his
friends  had  built this spring, because Nicole had already checked it. She had
also phoned all Trevor's friends' parents, but he was nowhere to be found.

Nicole  wondered if her brother was hurt, or even - dare she think like that? -
kidnapped.  There were no words to describe how she would feel, should any such
thing happen to him because of her ... even if it wasn't technically her fault.
It  had been this way ever since he'd climbed up on top of her bunk bed when he
was a baby - only to fall off by accident, landing flat on his back. It had all
been  traumatic  for  Nicole;  she'd  cried bitterly for about fifteen minutes,
until  little  Trevor  had  made  a  full  recovery  and  smiled  at her. Thank
Everything Holy for that, she'd told herself.

That  was  when  Nicole  remembered  the  forest nearby. "That's it! He must be
there!"  she  thought,  and  headed  off  for  the small path that led into the
forest.  She  recalled  how  Trevor  had  come home one night, just in time for
dinner. He told her enthusiastically (as only young kids can) how he had combed
this  little  stream  for  his  rock  collection.  What  he found instead was a
double-handful  of  old  coins  dating  back to the first Centennial; together,
those had proved to be worth several hundred dollars. Since Nicole was starting
college the following month, Trevor had offered to put her through classes with
his newfound wealth. She had to sit him on her lap and kiss him for that.

Since  then, however, Nicole's parents - and most parents in the neighborhood -
had forbidden their kids to play in the forest ... because there was quicksand.
Several  sorority  girls  of Nicole's acquaintance used to have a hazing ritual
which  involved  the  pledge(s) crossing the forest. When some of those pledges
never  emerged  from  the  forest (even State Troopers hadn't been able to find
them), the ritual was discontinued. 'Just as well,' Nicole thought.

Nicole  scurried  down the path, shouting Trevor's name. All manner of horrible
scenarios  occurred  to  her;  each  one  ended  with her adored little brother
gasping  for  oxygen, instead sucking quicksand into his mouth and up his nose.
"Stop thinking like that! Stop it!" she screamed at herself.

That's  when  the  path disappeared beneath a dark stream. On the other side of
this  stream  was the forest itself. Because Nicole was in such a hurry to find
Trevor,  she  couldn't  bring  herself  to  walk  all  the  way to that distant
footbridge  she  knew  of,  which would have led over the stream. As the stream
didn't  look very wide, she was pretty sure she could make a leap for the other
side.

The stream proved to be much wider than it looked. Nicole made her leap for the
other  side, but came short of her mark. She landed in the water, which came to
her  waist.  She  wondered  if  she  hadn't  had  it coming; her black twirling
uniform,  which suggested a bathing suit, was now doubling as just that. As she
waded  further down the stream toward its edge, she had to smile momentarily as
the  cool  water  caressed  the lower half of her body. She liked it ... a lot.
Then  she  thought  of Trevor again, reached the edge and hauled herself out of
the water.

Nicole  proceeded  to  run  deeper  into the forest. In less than a minute, she
stepped  on  a  large patch of soft and gooey mud ... into which she sank up to
her  waist.  Too shocked to say a word as of yet, she gasped instead. She tried
to  wade through the mud, but couldn't. She turned around with difficulty, bent
over  and  reached  for a nearby root. She stretched for it, then lunged for it
...  only  to  miss it, falling on her face in the mud. She doggie-paddled with
her arms, which just got them stuck in the goo.

As  she  lay on her stomach in the mud, catching her breath, Nicole looked over
her  shoulder  ...  and noticed that her sleek tush was bobbing on the surface,
like  an island in this ocean of goo. Momentarily forgetting the danger she was
in,  she  flexed  her  buttocks  several times, which made her smile as the mud
rippled  around  her.  Then another idea struck her: Maybe I can kick my way to
safety,  she thought. She tried it, but her legs were stuck in the mud; lifting
them caused the rear half of her body to slip beneath the surface.

Nicole realized this approach was getting her nowhere but down. She sat back up
again  ... and fought the urge to struggle, as the sticky brown stuff rose over
her  belly.  She  shouted  for  help,  and  sank a couple of inches deeper. She
shouted again, but nobody came to assist her as the mud reached her armpits.

As  the  quicksand  climbed  up  over  her  shoulders, another horrible thought
occurred  to  Nicole:  this  bog  must  have taken Trevor as well! She began to
scream, and with renewed vigor launched herself part-way up out of the mire. As
Nicole  plunged  back  in  again,  she dug in the quicksand with both her arms.
Desperate  to  locate Trevor, she treaded her way from one corner of the bog to
another, and then another. Crying out her brother's name in a tearful rage, she
clawed  her  way through and across the mire - churning it into a froth - until
she was back in the center of the quicksand.

Nicole  gave  up  thrashing and went limp. She was still in tears, but her fury
was  burned  out. She felt herself sinking, but what difference did it make now
that  Trevor  was  gone?  How  could she face her parents, tell them her little
brother had drowned in quicksand while playing hide-and-go-seek with her?

The  mud  tugged  at  Nicole, licking her shoulders, but she no longer felt it.
"Oh,  Trevor ... Wherever you are, I love you!" she sobbed. "Please forgive me!
I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen to you!"

Nicole  heard  something  over  the  breeze.  Something  that  sounded like ...
Trevor's voice, shouting her name!

"He  must be calling out from Heaven," Nicole thought, "He wants me to join him
there. I will, Trevor! I'm coming now!"

Then  his  voice mentioned ... her pre-game rally! He yelled something about it
being  postponed  until  tomorrow  morning,  because there had been rain at the
University and the field was too wet!

Nicole opened her eyes. There was Trevor, standing on dry land about a meter in
front of her! He looked down at her. "Give me your hand, Nick," he said gently.
She did, and he started to pull.

"Oh,  God  ...  Trevor,  you're alive! My God, you're alive!" Nicole tilted her
head  back  and  laughed,  partly from relief, and partly from the irony of her
situation.  She  had  come  all  the way out here to rescue him, and now he was
rescuing her instead!

Trevor  lost  his  footing twice, but didn't fall in himself because Nicole was
there  to catch him. Finally, she was close enough to grab some large weeds. As
her  back  and  bottom emerged from the mire, Trevor suddenly stepped back from
her  and  turned  to flee. Instead, he tripped and fell ... and just lay there,
obviously  hurt.  He turned toward Nicole, who freed her legs from the bog (she
even had her boots on, still) and rushed to stand over him.

"Hey,  Trev  ...  How'd  you find me, anyway?" Nicole asked, grinning. The grin
faded, however, when she saw Trevor shaking.

"I'm  sorry  I  ruined  your  uniform, Nicole." Trevor said softly. "Please ...
Don't hate me for it."

Nicole  looked over her mire-covered self for a few seconds. Then she let out a
howl  of  laughter.  "Hate  you!?"  She  flung herself down beside Trevor, then
started  hugging and kissing him. "No, precious ... Of course I don't hate you!
You're my hero, you know that? You saved my life; that makes you my hero! Don't
you like being my hero?"

Trevor  gazed into Nicole's smiling face and slowly nodded. Then he wrapped his
arms  around  her  waist  and  pushed his cheek up against hers. After that, he
proceeded  to  tell  her how he had fallen asleep on the living-room couch. (No
wonder  she  hadn't been able to find him; he'd been right there all the time!)
He woke up to find dinner ready, so he'd taken it out of the oven and put it on
the table. Since she hadn't been anywhere in sight, he'd searched the courtyard
for  her;  that  was  when he'd heard her in the forest, yelling his name. He'd
followed her shouting, and ...

"I  just  had  another thought," Nicole cut him off, since she already knew the
rest. "Trevor, how long has it been since I took you swimming?"

He shrugged. "Why ask?"

"What say I take you right now, since I need a bath anyway?"

Trevor  thought  it over for about seven seconds. " ... I'd like that. I'd like
it  a  lot."  They  stood  up, and Nicole ushered him back to the stream. Fully
clothed  in  jeans  and  running  shoes  (although  he  did remove his favorite
t-shirt),  he jumped into the water. Fully uniformed, she dove in after him. As
he  made  for  the opposite edge of the stream, she came up right under him; he
found himself resting on her back. She swam leisurely about in the stream for a
few  minutes.  Then,  as  she ducked under, he rolled off her back and stood up
again. She stood up beside him, hip-deep in the water.

Nicole  looked  herself  over for a few seconds. Her soaking wet - but at least
clean - leotard was tight against her chest, belly, back and derriere. Her hair
was  soaked,  too;  she pushed it out of her face, letting it stick to her neck
and shoulders.

Nicole pushed Trevor's wet hair away from his beautiful eyes. Then she caressed
both sides of his incredibly sweet-looking face. After that, she showed him how
to  put  his  hands  on her hips - just like in the movies - and kiss her right
between the eyes.

Trevor was flooded with love for his big, beautiful sister. He stepped close to
hug  her, and enjoyed the feel of her soaked leotard. She clasped him adoringly
to  her,  while  slowly  sinking  to her knees in the stream. The water rose to
their  shoulders.  They continued to embrace, and kiss, and play in the stream,
for another hour.

Trevor  and  his  sister  were  both dripping, as they rushed giggling into the
house  ...  right  in  front  of  their  parents, who demanded to know what had
happened  to  them. Nicole told them about the postponed rally, and how she had
just  been  logging  some  quality  time with her little brother - who abruptly
leaned  up  and  kissed  her just below the ear. She chuckled, and so did their
parents,  too  affected by the sight to insist on anything else ... except that
they both take a shower and change out of those wet clothes.