The sudden blue of the water enveloped me as my horrified fingers slipped under the surface. An iron grip held my shoulders tight, softly holding me in my space. Like blankets, the water wrapped tightly, coldly shocking my body into warmth- a gentle glow upon the skin. Tearing open my eyes, I saw a long far away world of blue, stretching away from me, taunting me. Oblivious to my struggle, to my panic, I see legs and arms and excitement over some concept lost to me. Water had no time nor patience for my panic, and insisted wholly upon the hands on my shoulders and liquid glass now pervading my lungs. The water seemed to hold me under it’s own thumb in an attempt to extinguish my blatant nonconformity. The clicking of my heart was strained now, and veiled in bubbles of oxygen, my vision was obscured. I noted the valiant white bubbles straggle away, across the blue world, and more importantly, away from me. The words I heard where only a muted bass now held down oppressively by a harsh droning sound. Such an uncontrollable sound, such a rampant all consuming bodily humming that drove me insane. The hands stayed firm but ceased to exist, Slipping away from me not unlike the precious oxygen which had so recently evaporated. My lungs, heavy with Hydrogen, reacted slowly, and like drinking a long smooth flame, the chlorine burned my insides, like knives eviscerating my corporeal form. I realized my skin had dissipated, busted open like a translucent sac, and flowing like the water, I was no more. Only a single fading window of consciousness, desperately clicking and wanting and with one drowsy struggle, giving up. I looked skyward, making amends with my world, preparing for death, preparing for serenity. I released my muscles and relaxed. There was one final click.

And then he let go.

The world ripped back into my corpse with such force, the whiplash had yet to catch up to me.
The encroaching darkness faded, and my skull was again buzzing with electricity. Taking full advantage, I kicked myself up and away from the floor, my muscles springing back to life. Hope floods back into my body, like a cruel joke, humor strikes me. A sick watery laughter evades my lips as I climb this torrential never ending waterfall, Clawing through handfuls of water, handfuls of sand, handfuls of broken glass with my lungs literally weighing me down. The world exploded into color, the soft comforting blue turning to a cackling red sea of death and eruption, familiar faces warp into unrecognizable blurs, as I forced myself to the edge. I pulled my cold body onto the contrastingly warm concrete, scraping my stomach. Throwing up water and coughing I wretch, thankful for every molecule of air. My lungs burned like whiskey and every breath tore me in half. I pulled my legs out of the pool, whilst the beautifully glowing oxygen torched my skin, lighting it all aflame. Fading in and out of consciousness I hunch over my elbows and throw up. Indistinguishable from the water, bitter tears rolled down in handfuls, All whispering of their sweetness. Tears not of sadness or of fear, but of pride, of victory, and of the allowance of continued suffering. Convulsions wracked my body, I shivered and my limbs collapsed as numbness was wicked away by the sweet sultry air. I laid down in my puddle to feel for the first time. I felt the texture of the air in my lungs, the texture of my organs, my lungs moving, and the blood pulsing in my veins.