A Clingy Dog Follows Me To Another World

Unusual After-life.

I don't like water. 

I've never had an affinity for it. More specifically, the ocean.

It makes me feel very vulnerable and weak. The weightless sensation, the pulling and tugging, the lack of air, and the very cold touch as it surrounds you.

I can never understand why some people enjoy it so much.

The feeling of the water pressure presses against my stomach, making me feel nauseous and sick. Not knowing where the bottom is, or if it ends, or if something was lurking right below my feet. Completely vulnerable. Waiting to pull you under and trap you, sealing your last breath of air.

Even the process of drowning. You can't call for help, because you'll be too focused on trying to stay afloat, flailing your arms and legs about; desperately wanting to reach closer to the shore, but the ocean just pushes you further and further into the deep blue. Even when you finally call for help, the undulating sea water forces itself into your throat, choking your cries and minimizing your struggles. You'll be left to wander in despair, sinking deeper into an unknown abyss where every second of it tries to steal your very last attempts at a struggle. Rushing to fill your nose, cloud your ears, blur your eyes, and then fill your lungs.

It's truly the worst feeling a man can experience. Although I might be overacting a bit, after all, many people still enjoy the sea. They enjoy gazing at its beauty, inhaling the salty air, and swimming in the waters.

Even so, I know many people will agree with me that the sea is a deadly thing. I swore to myself that I'll never go back to it again, that that would be the last time I'll ever enjoy the sea again. The last time I'll ever succumb to the feeling of numbing, weightlessness, and breathlessness.

So what was this?

What was I feeling now?

I couldn't feel myself, but I sensed the unique lack of gravitation that gripped my lungs.

End it quickly.

.

.

.

"WAAAAHHHHH!!!AAAHHHHH!!"

"Tosnwoqk eomwhe woskje!-"

"Osmusn! Oapjwnwk-OAJ!!"

Muffled voices filled my ears, and in a language I'd never heard before. The sounds of panic and unrest surrounded me, just like before. It reminded me of the moments right before my death...

I could see nothing, as usual. Just blank, empty darkness. I could not move, or talk, and although I could hear, all the voices were unusually muffled.

I attempted to sound out what those voices were saying, but as I've said before, they spoke in a language I could not recognize.

I felt my body being lifted, carried from left to right as if I was being passed around. Quite a novel feeling, but uncomfortable nonetheless.

"Ujedsok jUksd? Edsos...soek." 

The unfamiliar language again. But this time it sounds so clear, like it was said right next to my ears.

It seems like it just came to me, but wasn't I dead? How come I'm still conscious, or am I a stream of consciousness? An unusual afterlife.

.

.

.

I'm not blind. And I'm not dead.

The infant hands in front of me wriggled its digits just as I thought. Small, white, and pink, clutching the extraordinarily soft fabric under my stomach.