A cold splash of water brought her back to consciousness, crashing into her like a thousand icicles and engulfing her entire being. She barely stirred, weary from her previous events.
The water dragged her down, and she sunk lower and lower, her head rising to look mindlessly at the glistening sunlight beaming through the water's surface. She blinked, letting her eyes accustom to the salty water so she could see. The streams of light illuminated the millions of bubbles that danced around her and floated up to the surface where they disappeared. She wanted to be like a bubble, to just float to the surface. It was too cold down there. Her dazed mind didn't fully register what was happening until she tried to take a breath. She choked on salty ocean water, but couldn't cough it out.
She was drowning.
Panicked, the girl forced her legs to kick and her arms to paddle, desperately trying to reach the surface, but she was too deep. She had sunk too low. Her sight blurred, her heart thumped loudly in her chest, her eyes widened to the size of tires.
Oh no, no, no, no, no! C'mon swim! Swim! Just a little farther!
She slipped back into dark, lonely unconsciousness just before her fingertips could touch air, one last frightening thought echoing through her skull.
What happened to me?
