I Am A Fish

I am a fish.  My body glides effortlessly through the cool salt water.  I emerge, my head breaking the stillness of the water.  It rolls down my neck to rejoin with the larger body of itself.  A smile plays across my face.  Deep breath.  I submerge again, letting myself fall down into the darkness.  The stroke of my arms plays out a rhythm that pulses through the water around me.  The world is muted through this glimmering pool.  The music of the water is all that I can hear.

I open my eyes to the engulfing darkness.  My eyes filter the small amount of light that has found its way here.  A small bubble escapes my lips and dances towards the sun.  It seems so alive that I send more after it.  They bob towards the surface with uniformed chaos.  A small twist of my hips gives me a view of the sun.  It shimmers and twists down at me.  The ripples play across it like old friends causing it to sway to the water's tune.

My lungs burn and I am once again forced to surface.  The sun beats hot against my naked head and my eyes squint in the bright light.  I sigh and allow my lower body to float to the surface.  I lie on my back and close my eyes.  The sun paints an orange and pink tapestry across my eyelids.  It is almost time to leave now, the real world is calling me back to it.  I dive once more.  I push against the bottom and propel myself out of the water.  A shower of tiny droplets spring out with me and fall back down.  Hundreds of ripples skitter behind me as I force myself to crawl back onto the land.  Tomorrow I will be a fish once again.