She had just woken from a nightmare. In the dream, she was freediving, and she watched herself descend into the pale green depths: the curves of her hips and buttocks gliding through the water, her arms relaxed at her sides, feet fluttering behind her. She swam like this until the water felt cold and the sudden change in temperature frightened her.

Fearing the darkness below, she turned toward the surface. She could see the wavering light above her and pulled down great swaths of water, begging for air. But the harder she swam, the farther the lighted waters stretched out of reach, summoning in her an animalistic desperation. She thrashed her legs and clawed at the sea, her lungs ablaze and screaming to inhale as the surface retreated and darkness wrapped its inky fingers around her, dragged her deeper into the cold.

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