Carol and Jim Black sat together on the red-and-yellow blanket upon the pine needle covered forest floor.   A hundred metres away swirled the near-flooding waters of the Yannan River, a few kilometres outside Glen Hartwell in the southeastern Victorian countryside.

Jim leant back and gazed up at the heights of the leafy trees that seemed, like Jack’s beanstalk, to go all the way up to the clouds.   Breathing in deeply and enjoying the fresh smell of pine and eucalyptus, Jim said, “Just smell that clean air, honey.   We don’t get anything like this back in LA.”

“That’s for sure,” agreed the moderately pretty ash-blonde sitting beside him, taking goodies from their picnic hamper.   “In LA. it pays not to breathe too deeply for fear of choking on the gasoline fumes.”

Grabbing an empty milk jug, Carol stood, unmindful of the crackling pine needles beneath her bare feet.   “I’m going to get some fresh water,” she said, heading toward the river.

“Okay, honey, don’t fall in,” cautioned Jim.   He watched her jiggling behind for a second as she ran.   Then thinking, ‘This is the life!’ he lay back on the blanket and shut his eyes.

Seconds later his eyes sprang open again as Carol began screaming, “Help me!   Help me!   Oh, Jeeesuuuus!”

“Carol?” cried Jim.   He leapt to his feet and ran down to the riverbank….Where there was no sign of his wife.   “Jesus, where is she?” he wondered aloud.   He scanned the tree-lined banks of the river in both directions.

“Where the hell…?” he began to say in mounting hysteria.   When suddenly there was a violent out rushing of bubbles, like someone releasing their breath underwater, a few metres out into the river.

“Oh my God, she’s drowning!” cried Jim, racing fully clothed out into the river.

There was a second explosion of air-bubbles and the water around him suddenly turned red.

“Oh God, she’s bleeding!” shrieked Jim.   He began thrashing about in the water with his hands, feeling for her under the water.

There was a third great out rush of air bubbles, and then Carol Black’s ash-blonde head suddenly broke water.