Bleary and heavy, my eyes dragged open. Around me a deep darkness layered beneath a gradient of blue, wobbled into vision. Dimn lights danced across the great expanse of my muddled perception causing hues of the cold colour to flicker and shine. I found a gentle sway through my body. A powerful force that could no doubt turn me inside out and upside down, only lightly pushed and pulled around me. A weightlessness both foreign and familiar disarmed my ability to feel where my limbs held their position. A twitch of my fingers. A wiggle of my toes. How far from the surface had I sunk? A blink. Was I still sinking? The darkness grew like a dome was being stretched and lifted around me. I watched the light drift upwards curiously, until a burning in my chest set my brain working clearer. Move. I needed to move. The muscles in my neck strained as I moved my head. Trying to get my bearings I looked around - left, right, up. Sunlight shone from above me. The burning in my lungs intensified as I willed my arms upward, unsure if they'd respond to my order. As I fixed my focus on the shinning light I could have sighed with relief as my fingers silhouetted into view against the glare, but with no air to spare for the expression, I pulled my arms back down to begin the ascent. My legs peddled, wobbled, and flapped in my weak attempts to kick. Reach, pull, kick, reach, pull, kick, my bones thrummed against the pressure of the water around me. The burn began to morph into cramping muscle spasms as a searing throb began to shoot through my senses. The light flickered as I grappled with my consciousness, reach pull kick, reach pull kick, just a little ways more. A ringing in my ears, where was the surface?! Reach pull kick. The light flickered again, slowly this time. Feeling in my legs and arms began to turn rubbery and dull, I knew I couldn't last for much longer. I reached out my hand. One last feeble kick of my legs was all I had left when my fingers shot from the water and out into a cool breeze. I wrenched my arm back down to pull myself through that last small distance of water, desperate to draw breath. I heaved as my head broke the surface, arching my spine and racking my whole body to inhale. Cool sweet air flooded my lungs. The single sweetest breath I had ever taken. A breath I found myself to regret in the short forthcoming.