12-A DIVE... IN THE ICY WATER!

A DIVE... IN THE ICY WATER! A little voice inside my head began screaming at me. "Don't just stand there! Save him!" it yelled. I dove into the water. That's when the other little voice began screaming. It shrieked, "Geronimo, are you crazy? You're not a swimmer. You can barely do two laps at the cheddarville Y!" ICY-COLD WATER soaked into my ears, my nose, even my throat. It blocked out the voices. All I could think about was SAVING Punk Rat. I swam desperately toward him. I could

see his little head bobbing up and down in the waves. His little paws waved in the air. Up and down, wave. Up and down, wave. He looked like he was doing a perfect water ballet dance. I wondered if he had ever thought about taking lessons. I was still thinking about water ballet when things went from bad to worse. Yep, Punk Rat went under.

What could I do? I dove down after him. It was dark under the water. I COULD HARDLY SEE A THING. Everything was so fuzzy. Everything was so blurry. Maybe I need a new pair of glasses, I thought. Then I realized I wasn't wearing glasses. I had lost them in the water! Luckily, my paw felt something. It was Punk Rat's tail. I grabbed it. I pulled him up. Someone threw me a life buoy from the boat. Then they pulled us in. Cheesecake! we were saved!