The Long Swim

"Deep Bubble IPad Air Wallpaper." Deep Bubble IPad Air Wallpaper Download. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2016. <http://www.ilikewallpaper.net/ipad-air-wallpaper/Deep-Bubble/4468>.

The old man woke up that morning, alone in his home, to a gray, cold and stormy day. He pondered what the sea would be like in this weather, as he always, always took a morning swim. Moments later, all thoughts in his mind were forgotten when he remembered his dear, late daughter. She had been the light of his life, and even though she had moved away to the city long ago, they had shared a love of the sea. When she was young, and things were simpler, they used to walk hand in hand down the stone path, across the sand and into the water. He used to call her his little angelfish, colorful, bright and full of life. In the ten years she had been away, he swam alone, diving for coral and missing her company dearly. Now, the weight of her death caused physical pain, and for no other reason than habit, he set off once again, through the driving rain to the shore.

The old man stepped into the ocean, feeling aged and purposeless, gray like the day. The water swirled around his ankles as he gradually got deeper to his knees, deeper still until his head was submerged; no thoughts of ever going back. There was nothing left for him. He would escape to the sea and swim until he couldn’t anymore. Tilting down he swam a stroke; the ice-cold water rippling his sun worn skin. Down into the darkening depths he swam, closing his eyes and feeling the life of the ocean drain away his own. He was slowing, and his only desire was to swim deeper; to escape into the never ending darkness, and to see once again his angelfish.

And there she was. A slender angelfish fluttered in the murky water and skirted around a large rock. With the little air he had left he followed, pushing against the current to circle the rock. There on the other side was his daughter, transformed from the angelfish, colorful, bright and smiling. She beckoned and swam off and he tried with every morsel of energy to pursue, to reach her, to hold her, to never let go. But the distance was too far, too much time had passed and try as he might, no effort could bring her back. His last thoughts were of her smile, perfectly preserved in his memory, before everything slowed and painfully went black.  

He felt sand brush against his legs and air reach his lungs. Like a light switch, his eyes opened to a day totally transformed. His daughter had led him back to the beach out of love, protecting him. The weather, his mind, calm. He would always miss her but the consuming sadness was gone, replaced instead by a sense of peace. “Thank you for saving my life, my angel.” he whispered. Perhaps, he thought, out of love we can do anything.