Almost drowned
He swam like a duck, but also sank like a duck.
In his youth, Nikola loved to swim in the nearby river. On one occasion, he wanted to joke with his friends who were playing not far from him. He planned to dive under their makeshift boat and quietly emerge from the other side and scare them away. Nikola was confident in his abilities. He said that in his youth he swam like a duck. He was convinced that he could perform this feat.
So he dived into the water and, when he disappeared from their sight under the water, he turned and quickly continued to the opposite side. Thinking he was safe behind the structure, he tried to surface. But his head hit something hard, immovable and impenetrable.
He quickly dived and began to swim forward. He was running out of breath. He tried to surface again, hoping that he had bypassed the object that was preventing him from surfacing. Dum! His head hit the beam again. He couldn't go out. His heart was beating like crazy, he felt a huge pressure in his lungs where there was no more air at all. He knew that the next attempt was his last. He mustered all his remaining strength and began to swim forward again. He tried to emerge with his last strength. Dum! He felt his head hit solid wood again. He couldn't take it anymore. His head was spinning and he felt himself sinking...
At that moment, when his situation seemed completely hopeless, he experienced one of those unusual flashes of light. A solid structure above him appeared before his eyes. He sensed that there was some empty space between the surface of the water and the planks on the beams. In the last hour of composure, he swam out, pressed his mouth against the boards and managed to breathe in some air.
He repeated this procedure several times, as if in a dream. His heart slowed down. He pulled himself together. After that, he made several unsuccessful dives, completely losing his sense of direction. He finally managed to get out of the trap when his friends had already given up on him and were hunting for his body...