the child within (3)

THE CHILD WITHIN.

“I am nothing and nobody”His mouth and nose were above water - enough to

breathe and to hear nothing else except this sentence he kept on whispering.

“I am nothing and nobody”The rest of his body was floating an inch below the flat surface of the Aegean sea.

“I am nothing and nobody”He exhaled. With each exhale he felt lighter and more peaceful. He couldn’t explain it but each whisper made him feel as if he was shedding away a skin that he has

worn for the last 20 years. He had no physical pain, yet he imagined it with each shedding layer - and strangely

it felt good.

“I am nothing and nobody”Then there it was - the last whisper and the last, slow and deep exhale. He let go of his body completely and started

to slowly descend to the bottom of the sea.

His mind was clear as he descended. He could only feel something that he has felt along time ago but has forgotten about it. Something that he felt

when he was a kid. He kept sinking, until his knee caps, one after the other, touched the silt sand and anchored in it gently. He was motionless

for whole eternity.

“I am nothing and nobody”

“Maybe this is how forever feels like”He opened his eyes and felt that familiar need to breathe -

although he knew how to breathe, this breath was strange. It felt like he had to do it for the first time in his life.

Then he resurfaced and inhaled deeply.

“Who am i? Where am i?”He glazed his palm on the surface of the water and it felt very nice. He then lunged

forward, took one stroke with his left arm in the water and then with the right.He kept stroking faster and faster until he reached the beach.

There, this woman stood. She did not notice him at first. When she did, her face changed colors as she watched him in awe:

“What happened? You look....different.”A big smile, never seen before, was etched on his face. He looked as if he had

done something for the first time in his life.

“I… i can swim.”