Book Teaser
"I surface from the water, gasping, disoriented. Then I see Sam. His body, horizontal—in the jaws of a hippo. Twisted, half-submerged, half above the surface. The hippo thrashes its head, dragging Sam under and pulling him back up. My thoughts are fractured between—No–This isn’t real–Sam is dying–Sam is dead–Sam is being killed—
Sounds come out of me, raw and unrecognizable, pulled from somewhere deeper than language. Grief and bargaining tangling together into a primal noise that cuts across animal kingdoms as I run toward Sam through waist-deep water. I sprint, driving myself forward as hard as I can, the water fighting me at every step, thick and heavy around my legs, turning motion into resistance. No matter how fast I try to move, it feels impossibly slow. Time stretches in an unnatural way, the way it does when you're about to lose everything. Every second expands, micro-slicing time.
No time for fear. I plea with the Universe to undo what it has done. I run straight at the hippo, screaming. Water splashing around me, as my body propels itself. Fists clenched, I punch the hippo—"
- Authored by Anna & Samuel McKee