Submerged

Chapter one

I opened my eyes. It was almost as if I never opened them at all. Nothing around me was visible. Everything is... dark. my whole body is spread out... am I floating? My body feels weightless but somehow I feel... expanded. Like I'm full. Suddenly... my body hits something. Forceful... but graceful at the same time. Finally, I understand. I was sinking. Am I at the bottom of the ocean? I thought about moving but my body won't cooperate. Almost as if... a magnet was pulling me towards the earth. Like I was tied to a thousand weights. Hours went by. Days. Weeks. all I was capable of was staring. no moving... I couldn't even feel breathing. Which I was pretty sure I wasn't doing. How...am I alive? Am I even alive? did I die and go to hell? I tried to remember how I got here. Who I was. I couldn't remember a thing. I couldn't even remember my own gender. I just have this... feeling. I feel like my heart is going to burst... if it was even beating. could this be... despair? A deep sorrow? Why could I possibly feel this way? Time continued to pass as has been known to do. But to me, it felt like I was stuck. Like time was frozen still. is that...? In front of me... I could see the tiniest shred of light. Over time it seemed to be coming closer and closer by the second. I could see bubbles floating upwards as whatever this was approached me. I was overtaken by fear. Certain that whatever was coming had murderous intent. But at the same time, I was calm. Hopeful that if this thing was going to kill me, that I would not have to endure just laying here in pitch blackness. I was ready. Suddenly, it grabbed me, dragging me upwards. It had a firm grip around my waist. But I was still unable to see what it was that grabbed me. I accepted my fate. I knew what would come next. It felt like forever. Like I was being endlessly dragged through the darkness. I wished that this thing would just kill me already. Suddenly, I felt... cold. I no longer felt like I was floating. In fact, I no longer felt weightless. Instead, I felt limp, having zero control over my body. Could it be that... I was brought back to the surface? I tried to gasp for air. But my lungs were full of water and heavy. I fell to the ground, coughing up all the water. My body somehow felt drained even though I spent all that time below the surface. I lay there on my back, it was... different here. It isn't pitch black. I could see a white light above me. the moon. I finally made it back I thought as my eyes slowly shut. And for the first time, I slept.