Fall into River

Then he flung himself off the rock and plunged down, down, down until he disappeared into the murky depths of the waters.

[...]

In the years that followed, Josh would rarely talk about what happened when he plunged into the depths of Roaring Horse River. Once he tried to tell Sarah.

“Well, it was like I—well, really, it was something like—like dying, I guess, Sarah,” he whispered. Then he continued in a stronger voice, “The water was cold—I knew that. Yet, I didn’t feel cold.

“And you know those rocks were like knives, but I was never cut once! Sarah, it was like—like I was surrounded by some sort of—oh, I just can’t tell you. I don’t know.”

And he gave up trying to explain.

The moment the cold waters closed over his head, Josh knew he was dead, but just as he began rolling over and over in the powerful current, something happened. He felt himself surrounded by a strange sense of warmth and safety. With one part of his mind he knew he was dying. Yet he felt somehow as he had felt when he was a small child and his father had held him close after a nightmare.

Josh’s hopes faded. But just then, a tiny light appeared in the darkness. The light grew stronger, and as it grew, the voice returned again. Josh heard himself joining the song:

“When my soul fainted within me
I remembered Goél,
And my prayer came in unto you,
into your holy temple.”

Then Josh seemed to hear the voice of Goél speaking. After that, he came to himself. He was sitting in the still waters on a sand bar.

Josh slowly got up and looked himself over for injuries. To his amazement, he was not even bruised or scratched. Then he looked around. It seemed that the sky was bluer and the grass greener than he had ever seen them.