Saturday, 13 July 2013

Aquaphobia - the fear of drowing

I teeter on the edge. Below, white capped waves crash like thunder on jagged black rocks. The sky is sleet, the sea is steel. The wind howls and I begin to fall towards the deadly foam below.


Then all at once, your arms are around my waist, you pull me into yourself, hold me against your warm beating heart. I whisper a hundred thank you's, a million I love you's, I tell you I can't swim. You remain silent and constant for a minute, absorbing my tears with the back of your hand. 


Then, as I catch my breath, without warning, you caste me away from yourself, out of your arms, over the edge. 


The fall is long, longer than I would have thought. The wind whistles in my ears, a melody of death. The scream is frozen on my lips, my arms outstretched for yours. There are no tears in my wide eyes as I hit the freezing waves. 


My mind swirls, the water swirls, all with one word: why? I whisper, 'I can't swim,' and my head slips below the water and the air slips from my lungs.

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