The cool clean rush of water over my skin. Like a soft caress, making my body tingle and dragging me down into that deep beautiful blue. I close my eyes and tell myself that I am swimming. It will be alright, as long as I am simply swimming.
Every foot I move further toward the bottom it gets cooler and the water seems to press on me the way you can feel the tons of stone overhead in a cave. It becomes an oppressive weight, making me realize just how much my lungs ache from lack of air. When my body flails to pull itself to the surface, my hands find themselves tied, my feet strapped to something heavy.
My body can’t wait any longer, and my mouth opens to fill with air but finds only gallons of water instead. Water that tastes like earth and salt and something coppery like blood.
I try to pretend I am still swimming.
My body rejects the water and coughs and hacks hoping for air. There is no air.
The inside of me is getting cold as the water fills me up.
Blackness starts to crowd my vision.
I am swimming. I am swimming.
But this isn’t swimming, it’s drowning instead.
September Writing Challenge from @katywritesbooks