I’m just not sure where this one came from, but it’s weird enough that i thought I’d blog it out there and see what everybody else thinks. Literal? Figurative? Bizarre, either way…

…I’m under the pool at our swim club. I mean, underground under it, walking through these secret tunnels that have glass ceilings, where the sun refracting through the water casts a fluid shadow against the white-washed walls. I am alone, but I keep sensing that somebody is behind me, following me. There’s a sense of desperation surrounding me, enveloping me as i keep a steady pace down this interminable hallway.

Through the rippling shadows I see a three-step ladder ahead, and a door. As I walk toward the ladder, the hallway begins to fill with water, and I try to break into a run to beat the rising tide. My run turns into a labored, slow-motion jog through the warm waves, and suddenly I’m treading water, doing what I can to keep my head above, gasping for air and swimming as fast as I can to reach the door before all air is stolen from me. I take my last gasp of air, swim under water, reach the ladder, climb it, and grab the handle to the door.

Locked.

I bang on the door as fast and as hard as I can, but I feel like I’m pounding through setting cement. I scream, but only bubbles of precious oxygen escape my lips, and I find myself beginning to sink, sink as I cling to the door handle, my fingers losing their grip one by one, until I am holding on by my right index finger, a crooked hook as a last-second lifeline.

I feel my grip loosening, sliding along the handle, and I am certain this is the end. I look up through the water and see the kicks of little feet above me, youngsters swimming in the pool, oblivious to my tragedy unfolding just feet below them. I look over to my finger, now sliding to the end of the handle, and I begin to count down:

5

sliding…

4

sliding…

3

sliding…

2

sliding… Read the rest of this entry »