We went for one more swim before relaxing, but we enjoyed the water. We played volleyball, not paying attention to points, challenged each other and acted like five year olds. At one point though, she lost her bracelet, and I volunteered to get it. She got out of the water and I dove under. I searched the bottom, frantically looking, and came up twice for air. The third time, I thought I saw it and swam toward the shine, just to find it was another diving toy. I was about to go up for air one more time, but, for whatever reason, my body was like a giant weight, pulling me down. I couldn’t get myself to go up, no matter how hard I tried. So I just went back to looking, soon becoming light headed from lack of air. Eventually, I did find it, and put it in the Velcro pocket on my trunks. I tried to swim up, but it was almost like hitting an invisible ceiling that blocked my path. I couldn’t go up, and my breath was being cut off second by second. I felt my throat close up as I tried to find a way to breathe, my dizzy head started to hurt, and my life began to blur as I surrounded myself with darkness, at last second, feeling a sudden yank on my stomach.
I felt like I was lying in the dark for hours, pain sweeping in and out of me like gusts of wind, heat flying through my head like birds, sweat beading my face as I struggled for breath. I thought I was done. Thought that everything was becoming clear. I was going into battle, face to face with death, and death was winning. Overcoming my body with numbness and pain. There was a sudden pressure against my chest, and a light brushing slowly deleting the sensation. Once I found my breath, the blackness began to brighten, and all sensation started to come back to me. I felt my heart pound itself against its prison bars made of bone, trying to escape as it started to refuel my body. I was alive. I was going to live. I was winning the fight