Sink or Swim...

How long can you dog paddle before your body gets so tired that you have to go limp?
Or you get a cramp?
You don't want to go under, you don't want to drown, but at some point your body runs out of energy. Hopefully, you are able to float, so you turn onto your back and let the water hold you, to give your limbs a rest for a while. But how long can you float?

I've had nightmare before about drowning. It terrifies me. Being in the middle of the ocean, nothing to cling to, just the cold, uncaring water all around me. Waiting to consume me at the first show of weakness. Creeping and lapping around my face. That desperate feeling.

Help, please someone help me!

But no one is there.

Or perhaps there are others in the deep with me, struggling to stay above, just like I am. They may want to lend assistance, but there predicament is as perilous as mine. Any attempt to help me remain afloat jeopardizes their own battle.

Fighting, thrashing, wanting to cry out as water floods my mouth. My will to survive is finally overcome by the reality of the crushing blue. My body goes limp.

A terrible, long, lonely way to die.

That is all.