The water laps against your skin and, for a moment, it is the only sensation that you feel.
You can hear the children laughing as they splash each other.
You can see the parents perched on their deckchairs; rubbing lotion onto already tanned skin, gossiping about the neighbor who made the mistake of not joining in this afternoon of leisure, calling to their youngsters to not play so rough.
The sunlight glistens on the water, turning it to a field of dazzling diamond brightness that parts for your passing.
And none of this matters.
You dive below, and suddenly,it is all gone. No sound reaches your ears. Your eyes are blind beneath the waves. Here you are, in the midst of a hub of activity, surrounded by thoughts and dreams and words that fall to silence on the surface of the liquid blanket that envelopes you. It has all ceased to exist. There is only you...and the cocoon of gently lapping coolness.
You are alone in this silent drowning existence.
Sudden irrational fear erratically drives you to the surface. Kicking and gasping...reaching out toward a reality that may no longer be there. As if, with your submersion, the water has washed them all away...to leave you forlorn and abandoned.
Cloudy images move distantly through your perception as you struggle against this haven turned prison...as you try to pull yourself free from the empty depths of what seems to be your very soul.
Bursting forth into sunlight, warm tingles on frozen skin, you breath...
But you are still alone.
