Lindsay loved to swim. It was what she had always loved, and been good at too.
Splash! The water was chilly and Lindsay flinched. She pushed off the wall and started kicking, then moving her arms.
When Lindsay swam she felt like she was in another place, like she was not herself anymore. Lindsay felt like she could fly and glide across the water. Lindsay loved that feeling, it felt comfortable, and at the same time, hard to describe and imagine.
As Lindsay reached the wall she did a flip turn and started heading back to where she had jumped in.
It was crowded in the pool, with lots of different faces displaying expressions showing signs of nervousness, excitement, confusion, and concentration.
When Lindsay reached the wall to let someone pass her, she remembered why she was here, and what she was doing.
The butterflies in her stomach felt like they were trapped inside of her, and were trying to get out by panicking and bumping into her stomach walls. Ugh! She was so nervous.
Lindsay was trying out for the swim team. She really wanted to make it, feel the pride of being good enough. That feeling had never come too easily for Lindsay.
Lindsay had always been bullied at school. She felt like a target, getting hit in the center everyday, harder and harder. That's why, when she was in 3rd grade, she took up swimming. Swimming, for Lindsay, felt like a haven, somewhere where she belonged. When she was in the water, her heart would start to beat, and she knew she was finally safe.
She started swimming again, dunking her head back under the water.
She would never forget the feeling of swimming or being this nervous!
And that was when she stopped breathing. Lindsay started sinking slowly going down, down, down, toward the bottom of the pool. Her blond hair becoming limp and swirling around her face, looking like spaghetti. Her eyes drooped shut so you couldn't see her brown, sad eyes.
And nobody noticed, so it seemed, until Lindsay heard a splash in the background and forced her eyes open.
Someone was swimming toward her. Lindsay closed her eyes again. Her chest felt like it was going to explode.
Then suddenly, Lindsay felt herself being lifted up, up, up toward the water's surface. She could picture the surface, with that glassy look that was so beautiful to Lindsay.
When she finally took a deep breath of fresh, clean air, she thought she would never forget all of those feelings, scared, panicked, . But the thing that shocked her, the most was when she looked up at her hero. It was Lindsay's old best friend, Kelsey! She felt a flood of emotions: happiness, shock, and surprise. And then Lindsay smiled.
THE END!