[written by Mira]

At the sound of Kiara's key turning in the lock, Elaine hardly stirred from where she lay on the couch, repeatedly swiping left on pictures of men holding fish. When her roomate burst in tearfully, though, she scarcely had time to turn her head before the girl had rushed across the living area and shut herself in the bathroom.

The shower started immediately, but Elaine knew something was up. Grunting, she rose from her spot amid the cushions. With the palm of her hand she knocked on the bathroom door. "Ki? How did it go today?"

"Just washing up!" Kiara replied, her voice heavier than usual. Inside the bathroom, she sat huddled on the floor with her face bent close to the playback on the camera screen, swallowing tears of confusion and fear. She fastforwarded to where everything went wrong; when she took one step too far and the mud had completely humbled her.

"Fine, take your time," said Elaine finally. "I wanna see what you filmed after, though."

Kiara paid her no mind, staring intently at the little screen. She could see herself well enough—struggling, panicking, convinced she had made a fatal mistake. It was surreal watching herself like this, but having so recently escaped, the peril was fresh in her mind, and the terrified girl in the video may well have been a stranger to her.

She sought evidence of another presence—a shadow, the faintest hint of movement... Nothing. With that sole exception everything played out as Kiara remembered it: She could hear herself talk to someone who wasn't there, then the mud just, lifted her out. But no, she had definitely done that much herself...

Folding the camera closed, she stripped sloppily and crawled into the shower. Though she had put up her hair in a careful bun, the depth of her submersion had sullied it, and she now had to work diligently to free long, dark strands of the caked and clumping mud. She began to worry the drain would clog too, but everything washed away when sufficiently moistened. Still, she spent a long time in the shower, the cold water helping her feel like part of the world again. Maybe she had hallucinated in the throes of her crisis and met someone who didn't exist; but she supposed if it had meant her survival, she at least owed that person her thanks—even if they had been only a phantom conjured by a brain convinced of its imminent doom.

When Kiara finally emerged from the bathroom, Elaine was waiting for her, sitting cross-legged on the couch and slurping smoothie through a metal straw. "You alright?" she asked, a suspicious look in her eyes.

Kiara had to come clean, but wasn't prepared to share the dirty secret at the heart of her tale: "I did something stupid, Elaine. You know those sinking videos you see some girls doing? I found a pit and tried making one myself. I got stuck and nearly drowned. I don't think we can use the video. I don't want anyone seeing it, not even you. I'm really sorry. It was so scary, I'm still processing it."

Kiara was crying again, and Elaine knew better than to press the issue. She got up and gave her friend a hug. "Hey, it's okay. I'm glad you're safe."

Kiara nodded, pulling away, one hand on her towel to keep it in place. "I want to try again," she said. "Making videos, I mean. If I stop like this I'll always regret it, and I want to prove that I can do this on my own." Kiara knew she must visit the pit again, but this of course she made no mention of.

Elaine could sense Kiara was holding something back, but only said, "Of course. I know you'll do a good job without me there. You just got ahead of yourself and took a careless risk. No more mud pits, okay?" She took her friend gently by the arm and led her to the kitchen. "There's still some smoothie left—want some?"

Kiara nodded, sniffling, her thoughts many kilometers distant...