Drowning, An Original Film

[Mermaid Petronella]

Drowning depicts a typical situation that happens to often, when a child is left alone for a quick second and falls into the pool while no one is around. When I was young, around the age of 3 to 5 I distinctly remember being bumped into the pool at a family Christmas Party by my cousin (And because I was at an age when I had no idea how to swim I sunk to the bottom.) Luckily being a Christmas party there were lots of people around and one of my distant relatives dived in to save me. I remember this so well even though I was so young. This story is about a girl who is playing with her toy ball by the edge of her swimming pool. Her Mum is happily on the phone while 'watching' her and has to go upstairs to get something, leaving her young child alone. The daughter drops her ball into the pool, reaches to get it as young people do. As she sinks she starts to see Mermaids surrounding her from all directions, playing with her, and twirling her around in their water play land. The scene changes to the Mum returning realizing that her daughter is not on the edge of the pool. Then the child rises breathing heavily, and it's up to the viewers imagination and thoughts on whether the Mermaids saved her or if they were all an illusion of her imagination.
I hope you enjoy this short film, it was written by Mermaid Narina, then edited filmed and put together by myself. This film features my great friends Narina (Mermaid in peach and purple), Lauren (Zebra tail) and Eleanor (The young beautiful girl), as well as my self playing the Mother and the Mermaid in Gold. Thankyou for watching, all comments, likes and shares are greatly appreciated! xxx

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOv7xLieSmw&feature=youtu.be

[ButterflyVision]

Nice. I like it. I have had more near drowning experiences than I'd like. Always had someone around. Sometimes they saved me, other times I had to save myself. But I still go swimming. I took lessons when I was younger but I never really mastered the staying above water technique. I usually just hold onto the edge when wading into the deep end. I like this video: it shows how something can go wrong in an instant.

[Mermaid Petronella]

Thank you, I myself have only had one, but every time I read something in the papers or on TV, in magazines, it scares me. I was so overly cautious with my sister while filming this, the idea was to get her to sink to the bottom, but I didn't want something to go wrong so I played it safe and did the filming only in places where she could stand up easily if she needed too. It's good to hear that you still swim despite the trauma's you've experienced though!

[AniaR]

I had a very hard time as a child. I didn't learn to swim til I was a teen. As a kid I was so sick, I had bad ears, and I was always achey and cold. As a teen I got so frustrated I couldn't swim that I convinced a friend to stay at the front of a dock with a floating device and I'd keep jumping off the dock to the floatey and each time I'd get her to take it farther and farther away. I still had bad ears so I only learned to tread water.

As an adult, about 6 years ago, was when I had my first near drowning experience and it actually happened when I met my boyfriend. I have a.d.h.d. so sometimes when I am really interested in something I forget about my surroundings. Well even someone without adhd would forget their surroundings meeting my boyfriend for the first time lol. We went for a swim in a lake and we were paddling out and talking. I was totally comfortable, then he went under water and surfaced a few feet away, heading back to shore. I realize then that I was in the middle of the lake. I didn't say anything and did my best to stay calm and just start treading back to where he was. I started getting really tired, started getting muscle cramps, and was so worried about getting water in my ears (infections come super easy to me) that I wasn't swimming very well and I started to sink. As soon as I went under once I started to panic, but I didn't say anything! I gasped for air and ended up swallowing water, which disoriented me more and made me feel sick. I basically stopped moving forward and just tread where I was, I went under again and started getting dizzy. That's when I felt my boyfriend (though he wasn't my boyfriend at the time) grab me around the waist and pull me up. I was so embarrassed I could cry and I STILL didn't tell him the truth until a few months later. I simply said I'd had a weird pain that caught me off guard. He was super nice about it, but we didn't go swimming again for like a year haha.

Eventually I knew I had to overcome my fears especially if I wanted to be a mermaid so I talked to a local dive shop about it. They said if I could learn to float i'd feel a lot more confident and safer, and if I was tired or had a cramp I could rest that way. But I'd need my ears to go underwater. When I explained I never had luck with traditional ear plugs they gave me silicone puddy and explained I'd still be able to equalize to a certain depth but if I ever wanted to go deeper I'd probably need an ear surgery (they were right, and I'm on a list now). But the puddy works great and it's see through! I still use it today for all my mermaid stuff. It keeps the water out but it's sort of pourous so I find I can equalize to about 20 feet. After that the pressure is too much. But for me, right now, that's all I need. I never end up going any deeper for the stuff I do so it works out fine. And the dive guy was right. As soon as I learned to float then I was able to learn all the other swimming strokes and techniques. I find it hilarious that when I wear a tail I always float and need a weight belt haha.

I do plan on having a surgery on my ears because I'd love to be able to scuba dive some day :)

[Mermaid Petronella]

That's such an inspirational story! My cousin Narina, also had a wacky drowning experience, at swimming lessons! The teacher was busy talking to Narina's Mum and wasn't watching her as she was sinking! It just further emphasizes that you can't take your eyes of young people, it's just risky! As for floating, I use to always float, but what I do is I blow all the air out before I go under, and it makes me sink! My younger sister, who is in the swimmers in this short film, you can see that she never 'drowned to the bottom' As she always floats to!! So we just changed the script and made her be able to swim when the mermaids came ~Magical~
It will be amazing when you get surgery as you'd have lots of new photo opportunities (and filming) your story is so inspirational! I can't wait till you finish your book, I will certainly purchase a copy! :)

[Usagi]

they gave me silicone puddy

How much did it cost? I know this is a silly reason to want it, but my ears get itchy after swimming lol

[AniaR]

How much did it cost? I know this is a silly reason to want it, but my ears get itchy after swimming lol not much at all! I usually buy a pack a year because they degrade over time. I also bought ear drops for swimmers ear, and I put them in every time I swim even if I don't think water got in. It's just an extra step to make sure I don't get infections and totally helps with swimmer ears

This is what I have, and they're malleable like putty

http://djsports.com/images/O/speedo-silicone-ear-plug-17575-676o.jpg

I usually pay under 10$ for them, here's a price for 6$ http://djsports.com/Speedo-Silicone-Ear-Plugs/

[Usagi]

Cool, thanks!

[Mermaid Danielle]

Great film! Keep up the good work and sending such important messages!

[Mermaid Miel]

Love it!

[Mermaid Narina]

Yeah, when i was little i was at swimming lessons. The instruction struck up a conversation with my mum and i started to drift away from the edge of the pool and started sinking. Its funny how these sorts of memories stay with you.. I remember exactly as i drifted downwards and the swimming instructor was cut from my view from the water.
Instinctively, somehow, the "put your hand up if you need a lifeguard" thing came as a reflex and i put my hand up and another lifeguard spotted me and pulled me up!

[Usagi]

Raina- went on amazon to look for the ear plugs, but there was lots of bad reviews. Someone suggested putty buddies, which had tons of great reviews, and suggested buying them with a swimming headband. Have you ever tried one? Could be cute with some decorating!

[Sammi Ray]

They have some great ear plugs at "boots" i don't no whether or not you have one over there (in from UK). Might be able to pick some up from your local pharmacy pretty cheap to try :-)

[Usagi]

Never heard of a "boots" around here Haha but my mom said we would "look into" getting me the plugs and the headband..as for today, I'm going to urgent care when it opens for the most painful ear infection ever lol

So! Drowning! Sounds interesting(:

[Mer_Adella]

Good film.

I took swim lessons with my brother (he has the same problems as Raina) and I took the advanced classes. My teacher taught me how to swim if you break one arm or one leg and frog swim, dolphin kick and all the fun stuff. I still to this day at 23 cannot just "float" I can tread water as long as I am slightly moving, but I cannot just lay on my back motionless and float. I have tried for hours but cannot do it. I swear I look like the titanic, my feet start to go under and soon it looks like I am just floating upright. lol.

I hope you make more movies