A Call For Help

I slid along the log, straddling it with my legs dipping into the quicksand. I could feel the trunk sink beneath my weight, and I knew I didn’t have time to reposition. I hadn’t thought about how to get Sarina from my angle, but with her head tilted up for a last gasp, I made a quick lunge. She had fortunately been wearing a racer-back sports bra, and I managed to grab hold of the strap behind her neck. I could only imagine that it was uncomfortable being yanked back by her bra, and she nearly got her head dunked under. It was not enough leverage for me to pull her free.

“Kick back!” I shouted. “Lean back. Kick your feet.”

I was trying to work her into a horizontal position, which was really difficult given how deep her legs were mired. She only managed to budge a tiny bit towards me. Losing my grip on her bra, I reached over to her front and tried to wrap my arm around her neck. This effort missed, and my hand slid over her muddy shoulder and clasped right over her boob. We set aside our mutual surprise -- it was the strongest hold I could get on her. Being a 36D was a huge advantage right here right now.

I was squeezing hard out of instinct, but it was having the desired effect for Sarina’s situation. She managed to work her way onto her side, twisting around so that she could face me, though her legs were still held in a tight grip. However, she could get her arms free now. With more confidence in her survival, she became more active in her escape effort. She bypassed my extended arm and went straight for the trunk, pulling herself onto it beside me. Good -- she was a fighter and didn’t need to wait for me to do everything. This gave me time to reposition so that she had more space on the trunk, where she heaved her chest over.

We were both up to our chests in the quaking bog with the log between us. I touched her shoulder to check that she was okay. We were both covered in mud and dirt, streaked with sweat. She let out a sigh and a chuckle, which I joined. We couldn’t believe what we were in. Our struggle for survival, and our proximity, had given me an unexpected thrill. Our faces were only inches from each other. We weren’t out of trouble yet, however. Any funny ideas I had were pushed to the back of my mind. The log was sinking under our combined weight.

The closest way to safety was to first push towards the ground where the stump was, then cross the short expanse that I had run over. Sarina was closer to the stump. She took a moment to gather herself, then pushed off from the log. The quicksand was effectively a large mud puddle at this point, and it offered no resistance. She nearly plunged straight down with no sign of stopping. She dipped to her shoulders and neck. A quick lunge and she got hold of the stump. She reached back and grabbed my arm before I went down with the log. The momentum carried me forward and she pulled me towards her until she got me into a swimmer’s hold, reversing our predicament. Then, to our horror, her hold on the stump slipped. We both fell backwards to the mercy of the quicksand. With nothing else, we held onto each other as we succumbed to the quicksand, mere feet away from pulling off a miraculous escape. Clutching each other, we couldn’t think of anything else. I could only remember the warmth of her body pressed against mine as we sank into the depths.

Then we stopped.

The sudden feeling of solid ground under our feet came as a shock. Perhaps we had been playing out the worst-case scenario in our head and had worked ourselves into such determination that we had not considered that the quicksand wasn’t that deep. Standing up straight, the quicksand was only up to our ribs. Sarina might have been in genuine danger before, but now we slapped each other and hugged at how stupid we felt. Taking our time, we waded our way out of the stream bed and climbed up the slope. We collapsed onto the ground, exhausted, but smiling.

“That was amazing,” Sarina gasped. It was the first exchange of words we had since I pulled her out. I wasn’t sure exactly what she meant, but a gentle squeeze of my hand made it clear how she felt about what I did. Soft, intimate, and genuine. “I don’t live far from here. We can get cleaned up at my place.”

The sweat and mud made her sports bra cling onto her ample breasts, leaving little to the imagination. She glanced a few times sheepishly at me -- looking at the bulge in my shorts was having a similar effect. Not only that, at some point she had lost her shoes, panties and shorts in the escape, leaving her bare from the waist down. It was almost too much for me. I wanted to take her right there. Again, something held me back, and it seemed like the right move. She turned, picked up the sweater she dropped earlier, and tied it around her waist to regain some modesty.

Before things turned anticlimactic, she walked up to me and wrapped her arms around me again. This time we felt no shame or embarrassment in pressing our bodies together, away from the quicksand. The reality that we had just escaped with our lives had dawned on us, and I was glad that I had her in my arms.

“Let me take you home,” I said.

* * *

As I guessed, Sarina lived in the student accommodation on the edge of the park. It was a decent walk, given how large the park was. Emerging from the woods, it felt like walking into a different world. We had been holding hands during our return to her home, and it felt like we were going to part ways despite not having said anything. I really didn’t want to go. I squeezed her hand, perhaps revealing my intent. She squeezed back.

“If you want,” she began, “you can stay over. It’s the least I can do to thank you.”

When Sarina went to open her door, it swung open on its own accord -- a bizarre encounter, as she lived alone and no one else had access to the house. As it turned out, their surprise visitors were none other than Anna and Christina, who had decided to break into Sarina’s house after finding her address and knowing she was meant to be stuck elsewhere.

We exchanged a momentary glance of disbelief at each other. Christina was out the door before any of us could react, including her partner in crime. Sarina, seething with vengeance, pursued. Anna and I were left dumbfounded, unsure exactly what to make of what was happening, until Anna realised it was best that she chased after her sister, and I followed last. The four of us ran back into the woods. Christina was genuinely fearful and was running as fast as she could, and Sarina was an excellent runner herself. Anna and I were bumbled through the trees and bushes.

There was a screech. I turned and ran towards the direction it came from, and nearly bowled over Anna. We had rushed through some thick bushes, and the ground suddenly dropped into a steep slope. I grabbed Anna and dropped backwards to stop us from plunging into the quicksand below, which Christina and Sarina had stumbled into. The thick, grey mud revealed their deep prints where they tried to run across the surface, in turn quickly disappearing as the quicksand liquefied, trapping the two women. Sarina was a few metres away, while Christina was a further out by a few strides, just out of Sarina’s vengeful grasp. Delightfully -- to me at least -- Sarina had managed to grab hold of Christina during the chase and had torn off her top, leaving her breasts fully exposed. Sarina herself had lost her sweater, leaving her naked from the waist down. Neither of them could do much to protect their modesty, busy as they were trying to keep their balance in the quicksand.

“Help!” they yelled in unison.

“We need to get them out!” Anna cried. She tugged at my arm. I didn’t budge.

“We?” I replied. “After you tried to get us trapped in there to steal our stuff?”

“What?” Anna replied. Her eyes widened when she realised I had seen through their scheme. “No, we weren’t going to kill her, I mean...” Christina’s yells interrupted her thoughts. She was up to her waist and sinking quickly. Sarina was keeping calm. Her previous encounter had taught her to keep still, and she was only just sinking up to crotch. Christina clearly hadn’t been in the quicksand before, and was thrashing around. This was making Sarina’s descent hasten as well, and they only had a few minutes to act before the quicksand became too soft to save them.

“You’ve got to go out there!” Anna screamed.

“No, I don’t,” I replied. “YOU go out there.”

“What? Why me?”

“Damn it, JUST COME AND GET ME!” Christina yelled. The quicksand was just below her breasts. She was sweating heavily, and the pressure of the quicksand wasn’t helping her.

“Use your arms to keep yourself up,” Sarina said softly as the quicksand passed her navel.

Christina gobbled up the advice and dug her arms in...only to get them stuck. “What? No!” she struggled to free her arms, only managing to sink to her armpits. “You bitch! You tricked me!”

I let out a chuckle. Sarina grinned at me. Anna grabbed me by the shirt to get my attention. “Listen, we’re sorry we tried to steal from you. But if you don’t do something, your friend is going to die too.”

For the next few minutes, something came over me. It was like the voice wasn’t mine. Maybe Anna’s stinging words triggered a vengeful spirit, reminding me of what she said about me earlier. I grabbed her wrists, and she suddenly felt twice as small. I felt like I could snap her like a twig. The adrenaline was surging through and I was holding her so tightly, I was hurting her.

And something in me enjoyed that.

“Listen, bitch,” I snarled. “I can get Sarina out on my own. I just need to throw you in there first so you don’t get in my way.”

“No!” Anna pleaded, struggling helplessly against my grip.

“Then do as I say, or else you and your sister will never get out.” I shoved her towards the quicksand lightly. She lunged a few steps into the mud, and she yelled out in terror. It wasn’t the deep part, I knew. “What’s wrong? You’ve been in there many times before, trying to trick people into rescuing you.”

“You said you weren’t going to push me in!”

I let out a guttural laugh that shocked even Sarina. It was perfect. Anna was petrified that I was more of a psychopath than she was. “Then do exactly as I say. Take your clothes off and tie them together.”

Anna glared at me and wanted to call me a dirty pig. Christina cut her off. “For fuck’s sake, I’m up to my neck! Just do what he says!”

Anna whipped off her clothes and made the makeshift rope. “Now get closer to Sarina and throw it to her,” I instructed.

“I can’t reach,” said Anna.

“Then walk closer.”

“But the quicksand...”

“Do it.”

Christina was up to her chin and was tilting her head up. “Anna, please...”

Anna waded into the quivering mud and sank to her thighs. She tossed the rope to Sarina, but it was still too short. She tried to move further, but her legs were stuck. “I can’t move! I’m sinking!”

“Pass that rope to me,” I ordered.

I took her clothes and walked around. Anna looked in horror as I stepped into the quicksand. In her panic, she hadn’t seen the dry, shallow bank jutting out towards the trapped women. It was only knee deep, and with the rope, I could easily reach Sarina. She had seen it too, and knew what I was doing. She patiently waited as I did what looked like the Jesus walking on water trick. She was up to her ribs and sinking slowly. There was a slight twinkle in her eye. I knew she was hinting at something.

“This might be too short,” I said, knowing full well that it wasn’t. “Maybe you should take off your bra for extra reach.”

“That’s a good idea,” Sarina said in a sultry voice. She slowly and carefully removed her sports bra, exposed her firm, round breasts just as the quicksand cupped them. She flicked it towards me, and I made a dramatic effort to retrieve the half-hearted throw, then slowly tied it to the cloth-chain.

“Hurry up!” Anna cried. She was up to her waist, while Christina was just keeping her head above the surface.

With the rope in hand, Sarina carefully removed into a horizontal position, gasping as the mud caressed her naked body. I held on the other end and watched intently, observing her butt moving back and forward as she crawled free of the quicksand trap. She kept her eyes on me the whole way. When she reached me, I lifted her free of the sucking mud, and we both stumbled back onto the solid stream bank.

“Thank you,” she whispered in my ear as we hugged, her naked body in my arms.

“Hello? What about us?” Anna cried. She was up to her chest now.

Sarina turned to face the two trapped thieves. “Oh, it looks like the quicksand is too deep for us. We’ll have to get help.”

“You could call them on your phone,” I suggested.

“That’s a good idea,” Sarina replied. She feigned forgetfulness and playfully covered her mouth. “Oh, but it got stolen today! I guess we’ll have to find help ourselves. I’m sure the fire department will have some long ladders.”

“Yes,” I added. “And the police will help the rescue effort too.”

Anna and Christina could only look at us helplessly, realising that there was no way for them to get out of this. Sarina retrieved Anna’s clothes and, as a trophy of her victory, put them on. I grinned at this insult to injury.

Once Sarina was done getting dressed, we left the stream and began making our way out of the park. She had her arm around my waist, I had mine around hers.

“I don’t suppose,” she said to me, softly, “I could get your number?”