How Henry met his girlfriend.

November 30, 2011. Written in Yangshuo, Guilin, China.

How Henry met his girlfriend.


It was a warm summer day in mid-august. Henry (that’s his English name), who had been working in Guilin for about 1 year now, went to Yangshuo with his parents that came visit him for the weekend. They hired a bamboo boat and took some pictures of the beautiful scenery, just like all the tourists do. It was such a beautiful day with a clear sky, and his parents seemed to be enjoying their precious time with him. 

They also decided to have a swim in the river. It was so hot that the river almost seemed to be inviting you to dive in. As a matter of fact, lots and lots of people were doing the same thing. Kids were laughing while they were striking water at each other, some athletical men were crawling their way through the river and near the riverbanks, an old lady was washing her clothes while enjoying the fresh water. Henry also noticed a young girl –maybe 2 or 3 years younger than him- swimming in the river so well balanced, flexible and skillful that it made him think of mermaids.

To tell you the truth, Henry himself had never really been a good swimmer. Sure, he had some swimming lessons at primary school, but he had hardly ever dived into the water since, and it was his first time to do so in nature. Still, he wasn’t really afraid because there were so many people around, and he had also felt the temptation to dive in the river, because it was such a warm day. Moreover, he wasn’t going to disappoint his proud parents by telling them that he didn’t even have the courage to swim in a river.

And so, Henry was swimming again for the first time in years. It was no problem at all. He was still near the riverbanks and the fact that the water was so un-deep that he could stand made him feel comfortable. He didn’t really need to be able to stand, but knowing to be able to do so, made him mentally stronger. He decided to go a little further away from the riverbanks. It was no problem, he was swimming like a pro! 
He tried to reach the bottom with his feet again, but noticed that he was no longer able to do so. Before he knew it, he felt his heart bouncing quicker and quicker. He lost control of his breathe as well. He completely panicked out. He started splashing around with his hands. He didn’t know how to swim anymore. Before he knew it, he was drowning.
“He, help!!” he screamed, just before his head went under water.

It might have been only 10 or 20 seconds, but it felt like it was forever. It was just so
scary. I’m probably going to die now, he thought.
But then, all of the sudden he noticed small, thin arms grapping his body. Had somebody come to the rescue? While holding on him, the feet of the person were now pushing the water skillfully, bringing them back up bit by bit. Henry noticed that the body of the person was way smaller than his. Was it a girl?

Yes, it was a girl, but Henry had fallen unconscious before they reached the top, so he didn’t even notice. The girl took him back to the riverbanks where Henry’s parents were waiting for him. She did it like a professional rescuer. Back on land, she wanted to do CPR on him, but was too shy to do so. But that didn’t even seem to be necessarily. Henry regained consciousness within a few minutes. He looked confused, but he actually knew exactly what had been going on. He looked up at the girl that had rescued him. It was the girl he had seen swimming like a mermaid before. She was smiling at him. She looked so beautiful. Asking here to go out with him, was the first thing he did after regaining consciousness. Normally, he was kind of a shy guy, and had hardly ever asked a girl out. But now, the circumstances were so different, that he felt no hesitation at all in doing so. The girl happily said yes.

They have been together ever since.