Through velvet blue into grey dimness. Up towards the light. And sound starts to penetrate now. Low echoes, vibrating through the water. But I’m not ready to leave yet. I’m safe here, floating in the shadows. The pain is distant, belonging to the light and the warmth and the air. My hands scull uselessly, trying to cup the water: trying to hold myself down. It eludes my grasp, flowing between my fingers like silk. And still I rise. Beneath the surface now, I look up into daylight. A face appears above me, wide and distorted: pink with heat that can’t touch me here in the cool shadow of the water. Her mouth opens and words ripple across the surface, dim and uncertain. For a breath I rise, breaking the surface. I feel a tear slithering down, curving over my cheek. Sound echoes in my throat. I reach out, fumbling to grasp: her wrist is fat and warm.
