She walked into the water

She walked into the water, deeper and deeper, feeling gravity falling away with each step. Finally she floated free in the water. Unmoving she waited for the water to still.

She sank downward until only her nose and her eyes were above the water. The last of the dying wavelets reflected the flickering firelight of the torch like liquid gold lightly blended into the water, soothingly illuminating the darkness of the night. The underwater lights created waving stria of blues and greens, bringing a shimmering florescence to the water in which she floated.

Alone under the night sky, with only the fireflies and stars to keep her company, she waited for her body and mind to mesh with the tranquility of her watery haven. Finally, when all was still, she gathered a bit of air into her lungs and sank down into the water.

Coolness and diffusion enveloped and embraced her. All sound muffled, all senses muted. Her thoughts floated free of logic and reality and only knew the calm serenity of the sensuous liquid to which she gave herself. Her long red hair fanned around her, gently undulating in what seemed like the rhythm of her slowing heartbeat.

She could only imagine dwelling endlessly in this suspension—the harshness of the world above and beyond her, outside of her liquid cocoon. All sounds distant and far away, the gentle resonance of her body’s inner cadences overriding all other aural intrusions, she drifted in a reverie of peace and calm, tinged with longing.

Opening her eyes beneath the water, she glimpsed the outside world as if through a wavering mirage. All so distant, when seen from this side of the surface, as if she were only a friendly but unseen observer of the shadowy affairs of humankind.

Regret rose in her awakening senses as she was forced to reenter that other, harsher world for wont of air to breathe.

9 August 2005