I am swimming. I am swimming, doggy paddling, barely able to hold my head above water. The water is not pulling me down, but I cannot stop swimming. Waves batter me and I cough and sputter and splash but I am still breathing.
Creatures call from shore, crabs and gulls and shorebirds. They say come, come join us, play! Take a break!
They don't understand. I must swim like the crab must scuttle, like the gull must flap its wings, like the shorebird must run. I cannot stop swimming, else I will drown.
It's peaceful, in a way. I have always liked the ocean, being in water is the only way I know how to be. And yet, I have never been good at treading.
