Marcie And The Amazons: 23. Ding-Dong Touches Bottom

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"It's not a joke," Cakey said, and there was enough alarm in her tone that Wiggy and I ran to the rail to see. I could see Cakey's entire body under the water, but no sign of Ding-Dong. Cakey looked scared. "She's been under a long time. She said she wanted to touch the bottom."

Marcie And The Amazons by Kaleigh Way

 

23. Ding-Dong Touches Bottom

 

At lunch time, we all climbed aboard. The sails were raised, and off the boat flew, in search of whales.

Wiggy and I served ourselves some cold rice salad and cheese. Our hair, like our bathing suits, was still wet, but rapidly drying. Everyone was laughing, and for once I wasn't the only one packing the food away.

Cakey, with a sullen look, sat down opposite us. I noticed that her swimsuit was dry.

"Hey, Cakey, nice suit!" I complimented. She stuck out her tongue at me.

"What?" I asked.

"Notice that her new bathing suit has no ties?" Wiggy observed in a wicked tone.

"Ohhh!" I said, getting it.

"I'm not getting caught *that* way twice!" Cakey declared.

"Good for you!" Wiggy replied in a saucy voice, and I busted up laughing.

Cakey frowned. "It was just a stupid oar," she said. "You guys can't take a joke. I don't know why you got so upset over it."

"We weren't upset," I told her. "Graffy and Grooty volunteered to get the oar back. We didn't even ask them."

"Hmmph!" Cakey said.

Wiggy shrugged. "It's not a big deal, Cakey. We're all girls here."

"Oh, yeah? How would you like it if it happened to you?"

"Um," Wiggy replied feebly, reddening. I remembered her "privacy issues" — we'd been taking turns leaving the room when the other had to change clothes. I also turned a little red. I wouldn't want to be caught that way, either.

"Not to change the subject," I said, "but look over there: Shaylen's talking to Graffy and Grooty."

Wiggy and Cakey glanced over. Graffy and Grooty looked embarrassed and penitent.

"Good," Cakey said. "It looks like they're getting in trouble. What did they do?"

"They swam way out from the ship, 'cause they were mad at the Captain," I replied, and told her the story. Cakey listened without comment.

As she sat there, her brown eyes darted everywhere, and I had my first chance to get a good look at the girl. In many ways she didn't look like the other Amazons. In the first place, her blonde hair didn't look natural. I could easily imagine her as a brunette, and thought she'd look much prettier that way. Also, at least at that moment, her posture wasn't so good. Her shoulders were slumped forward, so her upper back was rounded. When she saw that I was looking at her, she straightened up. In that moment she suddenly reminded me of someone... an actress. Then it hit me: "Famke Janssen." I said aloud.

"Huh?" Cakey said.

"You look like Famke Janssen. You know, the woman who played Jean Grey in X-Men?"

"Didn't see it," Cakey replied.

"Except that you're a lot younger," I told her.

"And Janssen's a brunette," Wiggy added in an innocent tone.

Cakey regarded the two of us for a moment. "I think I must have sat at the wrong table," she said at last.

"Give me a break," Wiggy groaned. "We're just teasing you!"

At that moment, Ding-Dong arrived with a plate full of food. When she asked, "Is this the brunette table?" I wondered just how much she'd heard.

Cakey turned her eyes toward Ding-Dong in silent rebuke, but when their eyes met, Ding-Dong burst into laughter. Cakey, unwillingly at first, began to smile, and then she laughed, too.

After she sat down, Ding-Dong leaned forward, and told me in a stage whisper, "Marcie, I have to let you in on a deep, *dark* secret: Cakey and I aren't natural blondes!"

"No way!" I cried, feigning ignorance, but Wiggy, Cakey, and I exchanged a three-way glance, and we all fell to laughing.

"We're not natural blondes, either," I told Ding-Dong, while gesturing at me and Wiggy.

"You are all such idiots!" Cakey said, at once angry, laughing, and affectionate.

"Nobody cares!" Wiggy declared. "It's, like, part of the cheerleader uniform."

Cakey shrugged. "I have to find a better color, though, or give it up. This stuff burns the heck out of my hair. Conditioners and hair treatments don't repair it. They can't."

From there, we launched into a discussion of hair products. I wished aloud I had a copy of Allure with me.

"Why?" Ding-Dong asked.

"Because they have lists of best products and recommendations," I said, "and they always show the affordable ones."

That started a discussion, mainly between me and Ding-Dong, comparing women's magazines.

"Oh, God, Wiggy," Cakey said, "There's two of them now. I don't know if I can take it."

Ding-Dong and I looked at each other, face to face, eyes to eyes, and for a few strange moments, I felt as if I were looking in a mirror. Not that I look anything like Ding-Dong — not at all! And of course I'm not as naive and clueless as she is. What it *was* was the feeling of a kindred spirit: someone with the same interests, the same outlook on the world, the same attitudes. If we were six years old, I would have said, "Do you want to be my best friend?" and she would have said, "Yes."

But we weren't six years old. Still, I wanted to say something, so out came the first thing that popped into my head. I said, "Ding-Dong, do you want to be my best friend?"

And she said, "Yes."
 


 

As Wiggy and I emerged from the dining room onto the deck, I began with "You know... what I said to Ding-Dong there..." and Wiggy cut in, "No, it's alright. I understand."

"No, wait," I said. "Let me talk. I don't want to get things all messed up so early in the trip. I want to be your friend. I like you a lot. I hope we can be friends forever."

"Really?" Wiggy said, lifting her eyes to meet mine. I saw a cloud reflected in the right lens of her wire-rimmed glasses. She squinted at me and smiled.

"Of course I do! You're absolutely the coolest person I know! I don't ever want to lose touch with you, and I want to hang out with you the whole trip!"

"Good," she said. "Great! I feel that way too. I thought we clicked pretty quickly."

"We did. We do."

"Good," she said. "Can I give you a hug?" We hugged quickly, then she cleared her throat and said, "I understand about Ding-Dong. It seems like you share some interests, and I guess — except for her being such a dimwit — you two are pretty similar. You both have that same mercilessly positive what-do-you-call-it outlook on life."

"We're optimists?" I suggested.

"No, that's not it," she replied. "What is the word? Oh, I know! Pollyanna! You two are both such Pollyannas! That's what makes you similar!" She actually guffawed after she said it!

"Pollyanna!?" I cried. "I am so NOT a Pollyanna! Take it back!"

"No," she squealed, giggling, and I chased her all over the deck. She kept shouting, "Pollyanna!" and I kept saying, "Take it back!" If I had a pillow, I would have walloped her with it.

We kept it up until Flannery grabbed each of us around the waist and hauled us into a corner. "That's enough," she said, and she wasn't smiling. At all. "We don't have time for horseplay. The pair of you just sit there until you cool off. No running, no shouting. No getting in the way."

"What's the problem?" Wiggy said. "We were just running around."

"We could go for a swim," I suggested. "Then we'd be out of the way."

"No swimming," Flannery said. "We have to get underway, and quick."

"Why?" Wiggy asked.

Flannery grimaced. "A storm's coming. So sit there until I tell you. We need to do a head count." She went to the side and called, "Everybody, out of the water! Out of the water, Captain's orders! Now, girls, now!"

We heard Cakey's voice reply, "Ding-Dong just went underwater. I have to wait for her."

"I don't see her," Flannery said. "Remember what the Captain said: no jokes, no tricks. Come on up out of there."

"It's not a joke," Cakey said, and there was enough alarm in her tone that Wiggy and I jumped up and ran to the rail to see. I looked as well as I could. I could see Cakey's entire body under the water, but I didn't see any sign of Ding-Dong. Cakey looked scared. "She's been under a long time. She said she wanted to touch the bottom."

Flannery's face spasmed in disbelief. "Is that girl a complete idiot?" she cried. "It's at least 2000, maybe 3000 feet right here. There's no way—"

But Cakey wasn't listening. Suddenly her head gave a jerk and she said, "I see her! She's coming back up! Here she comes!"

Sure enough, a shadow appeared deep below the surface, and quickly grew. Soon we could make out the blonde head, and see the arms and legs churning and flailing. She was coming up as fast as she could possibly go.

At last, Ding-Dong's head broke the surface, and she gave the loudest gasp I've ever heard. It sounded like a backward shriek, as she sucked all the air possible through her mouth, down into her lungs. Cakey helped her stay afloat, but not very well.

Graffy and Grooty flew through the air in a pair of graceful dives and came up on both sides of the girls. "We got her," one of them told Cakey. "It's okay. You're going to be alright, Ding-Dong."

Ding-Dong was still gasping. The twin blondes turned her face away from the ship, and towed her back to the ladder. By this time, Flannery was in the water, too, and several sailors were perched on the ladder. They made a human chain and somehow managed to pass Ding-Dong up the ladder and onto the deck. Soon, she was wrapped in a blanket, shivering and smiling.

Flannery relaxed for a moment, and gave Ding-Dong's head a playful push. "You silly thing!" she said. "Do you have a turnip for a brain? How could you ever think you could possibly touch bottom in this much water?"

"Oh, I always do that, wherever I swim," the girl replied. "I tried it this morning, but I didn't do a good enough jump, so I had to come back up."

"And today?" Flannery prompted, smiling in spite of herself.

"I touched bottom," Ding-Dong replied, as if the answer was obvious.

"No," Flannery countered.

"Yes," Ding-Dong said. "I jumped feet first, with my body perfectly stiff, so I went down, down, down. I went down so far, it began to get dark. And then, my feet landed on something solid. I looked up at the surface, and it was far, far away. Then I pushed off with my feet and came back up."

"It must have been a fish," one of the sailors commented.

"That's your theory," Ding-Dong told her.

Flannery straightened up. "Okay, that's enough. We need to do a head count."

"They're all here," Riley told her.

"Good," Flannery said. "Everybody needs to stay on board now. No more swimming, rowing, nothing, until further notice. Captain's orders. We've got to get underway, and fast. There's a storm we've been tracking, and it's decided to turn down and head in this direction. It's pretty far off, but the Captain's being prudent. She wants to make a run for the island.

"I suggest that you all take your showers as quickly as you can. We might have some rough sailing, and if we do, you don't want to get tossed around inside the head."

"The head?" Ding-Dong queried.

"She means the poop deck," Cakey explained, and bit her lip so she wouldn't laugh.

Flannery ignored it. "One more thing: as you know, tonight is New Years. If we can, we'll celebrate at midnight. But if things get busy, we'll have to put off the celebration until tomorrow. That's all. Any questions?"

There were no questions, not even from Ding-Dong, who was still busy shivering inside the blanket. We all went below, and as we stood in the crowded hallway, Mirina assigned shower times.

We continued to stand there, one wet mess, just looking at each other. No one seemed to want to move.

"So!" Donkey said, to break the silence, "No whales today!"

"Maybe Ding-Dong landed on a whale," someone offered.

Ding-Dong's eyes lit up. "Oh, Wiggy!" she cried. "Do you think that's possible? Could I have landed on a whale when I thought I touched bottom?"

"I don't know," Wiggy replied. "Anything's possible."

© 2008 by Kaleigh Way

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Comments

whale touching

... did Ding-Dong create a new sport?
It surely is a lot more likely then that she touched the bottom.

And what did Wiggy mean: "Anything's possible." ?

Does she know more than we do? Well probably but still - you know what I mean, don't you?

I'm not sure what to think now. Part of me hopes the girls reach the island save and in good time. Another more wicked part would like to see how they deal with bad weather. I know I'm just cruel.

Well Friday should tell so we wait and see.

thanks Kaleigh

Holly

Friendship is like glass,
once broken it can be mented,
but there will always be a crack.

What did you mean when you said what did she mean?

I don't know what you think Wiggy might know. What do you think Wiggy knows? I'm really curious.

And sorry, but the next chapter will come on MONDAY. I was going to post this Thursday, but I'm on a little unplanned trip and posted early.

seamonsters or such?

not sure what Wiggy might know or not. I made a few suggestions what could happen.
Maybe Wiggy knows of some planed or not planed adventures ahead.

Well I shall read it once it "happened" ;)

thanks for the story and for talking to your readers like that

hugs

Holly

Friendship is like glass,
once broken it can be mented,
but there will always be a crack.

What Wiggy Knew

At this point, Wiggy doesn't know more than anybody else -- including you.

She's just saying, "Anything's possible" because she doesn't feel like speculating about whales or arguing with Ding-Dong. It's part brush-off and part admission that she doesn't know.

hmm

Ah Ha

Captain Samantha tells off Yo'woman Kayleigh that it is a SHIP and not a boat as said in the first line

coulda seen a whale though

2000 ft = 600 mtrs up that fast woulda got the bends prob did land on a whale

deep diving's a sport

There is a sport where a person dives as far down as possible without the aid of air tanks. You get bends when you use air tanks, not when you hold your breath when you dive. Fun chapter though Kaleigh.

I agree with Arcee

You will not get the bends when you hold your breathe. It is when you have an external air supply that you can get the bends and only if you stay under for a longer time than you could, if you held your breath.

I do SCUBA and it is one of the things that is definately discussed for the very reason of getting the bends. It is called Nitrogen narcosis and the nitrogen in the air we breathe is compressed and becomes so small when we get below 30 feet, that it can pass through the membrane, in the lung, that allows oxygen through to your blood system and gets into your blood vessles. As you come up to the surface, the pressure on you is reduced and the nitrogen gas bubbles expand while it is in your blood stream and starts to clog the passageways for the blood to flow, causing severe pain and possible blackouts. To counter this you must raise the legs and torso above the head allowing the nitrogen bubbles to move toward your legs, so it does not block the flow of blood supply to the brain. The nitrogen will eventually come out of the blood system, but it will take a long time, if it doesn't kill you first, due to oxygen starvation. That is why they rush people to pressure chambers to bring them down to the depth they were diving at, so they can reduce the size of the nitrogen gas bubbles, so it can release it quicker through the lung membranes.

Could Ding dong have hit the deck of a submarine? 60 to 90 foot is a depth were they can stay and not be detected from the surface and a person could still dive that deep without a tank. I've done 60 foot free diving. 30 foot is very easy to get too, I do that all the time.

Just a sinsiter thought. Good job Kayleigh.

diving

Flannery's face spasmed in disbelief. "Is that girl a complete idiot?" she cried. "It's at least 2000, maybe 3000 feet right here. There's no way—"

Well she certainly didn't hit bottom. In 2006 a Navy diver in a newly designed suit(back then) set a DIVE record @ 2000 feet.

(late 2013) as i wrote this, I believe that record has been broken. I tried google'ing it but, I think it's still classified due to nature of the suit used. I also tried google'ing what a person W/O suit could survive and best i could find was
The current free form diving record is 597 feet. It was set by Frenchman Loic Loferme on October 2, 2005. -

free diving - w/o any equipment it appears around 500 feet is limit,tho I found one REF - where an unconfirmed managed almost 700, however that person is still suffering side effects even now (2014).
Appears compression is issue and oxygen starvation, if that now enuff to stop ya, nitrogen build up will turn ya into a vegatable.

W/O a suit no way she got that far unaided. Just for GP - Even if she jumped from a 500 ft tower she prob wouldnt have gotten to 250 feet deep either - water resistance would have slowed her decent way B4 that.

The landing on a whale's back, tho improbable, (and way cool) is the more reasonable explanation. Still she's lucky if nothing else & made a interesting storyline sub-pot

Nice chapter

Glad you're back to MWF posting.

I didn't though

Thanks, but I'm going to be aiming for two posting a week. I wrote a blog entry about it -- the problem was, writing/revising three a week got to be a too much like a job.

Ah, Ok

I guess I must have personally drifted into Marcie's alternate dream universe. I thought you had reduced your posting rate for 2 or 3 weeks and then planned to go back to 3 per. I either didn't see your 6/20 blog entry or read it incorrectly.

I can appreciate that even 2 postings a week is a lot of work. Please remember to make room for completing "Short Chapters" in there somewhere.

What Do We Have Now?

Could we have the Three Musketeers? I am waiting for Marcie to have a misadventure on the trip. maybe she can go whale riding.
May Your Light Forever Shine

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

Marcie and Ding Dong

I had a feeling that the two would become close friends. I think thats great and can have alot of comical situations. I cant wait
As for cakie and the privacy issue, lets hope that Marcie isnt caught that way.
How old is Marcie here, how old are the Amazons?

Thirteen

Marcie is still thirteen years old. It's only four months (in Marcie time) since she began to be a girl. Right now we're at New Years; Rules Are Rules began last August and ended with Thanksgiving. What Maisie Knew went from there to Christmas, and this story picks up a little after Christmas.

The Amazons are older than Marcie, generally fifteen and sixteen.

I thought so

I thought she was 12 or 13 and the amazons were high school students so Marcie can be forgiven for having a lack of maturity.

I was thinking 14

Generally, High School Freshmen are 14 - 15 years old in the U.S.

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
K Grade / Grammar Middle / Junior High F So Jr Sr
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
or
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

You're right -- 14

I don't have a head for numbers.

Marcie's 14, Wiggy's 16, the Amazons are 16 and 17.

Or maybe 13?

I just got a note from Christine01, who pointed out that Marcie says in Rules Are Rules that she's thirteen.

And I was just re-reading the story so far, and Marcie says she's thirteen at the beginning of this story, and so does Susan (in the Marcie Auburn segment).

Well, Edeyn is right: freshmen in high school are usually fourteen.

What happened is that I counted up from my daughter's current age and grade and ended up with the wrong answer. If you do the addition correctly, you get fourteen, but somehow I did it wrong and stuck there.

So I'm going back to fix them all.

Yuck!

and Wiggy?

so Wiggy is 16 or so as well?

That would explain why she is taken seriously when organizing things for them all.
I thought she would be Marcie's age and found it kinda odd.

Than again 3 years age difference at that age is a lot. Would that not be good for some troubles as well?

Friendship is like glass,
once broken it can be mented,
but there will always be a crack.

Ding Dong sounds like

she is really hiding her smarts. I love her -- she's so free! A really great character that should be a good RL friend.

This is most likely out of line, but I gotta ask: How does Marcie view herself. Does she prefer women, or is she still undeveloped as to her future em proclivities.

Almost forgot. To me, it seems that Ding Dong (Love that name!) is smarter than she appears. Can it be that she's afraid to show how intelligent she really is? Is it because she wants to fit in with the "Blondes." (No blonde jokes here -- they're mostly insulting, stupid, or downright chauvinistic.) And, along with GPS, i would think the captain has a barometer on board?

Annie in PA

Annie in PA

Marcie's inclinations

Marcie is definitely into boys. One of her frustrations in the other stories was that her parents didn't want her to date, partly because she's only 13 and partly because they're afraid of what would happen if she was discovered.

Ding-Dong is a mix: she isn't stupid, she's just naive and often speaks without thinking. Because of her naivete, she doesn't always pick up on things right away, but unfortunately will talk anyway. Partly it's real and partly an act.

I have a friend who is very much like Ding-Dong, and she's well known for some crazy mix-ups and misstatements. Someone once described her (this RL person) as "all heart and no head," which was unkind but fairly accurate. At the same time, she's done quite well for herself, has lived all over the world, and has many good, long-time friends.

Oh -- about the ship: we have assume that it's fully outfitted with all the things a ship like that should have. I'm not a sailor, so I can't comment further than that.

Weather forcasting at sea ...

... can be very sophisticated these days. Satellite weather systems are available and are used by short-handed yachties like (say) Ellen MacArthur in order to take full advantage of the winds around weather systems. In the UK the shipping forecasts broadcast daily by the BBC on 198Khz are extremely valuable and can be used to construct a synoptic chart. Local pressure measurements are useful but need to be interpreted intelligently.

Geoff

"Anything's possible."

yep, especially when Marcie is involved!

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