An: This is what happened to me in the last couple of days. I kind of put it in a nice story format --- I hope it worked. And just so you know, this is all true.

Flop

My mind tip-toed over to where I was sitting (and nicely eating corn on the cob) and lightly tapped me on the shoulder. Now when you think tapped, you think a nice ‘pit-pat’ right? Good. Cause that what my mind did. It nicely pit-patted the bone on my shoulder that was rising and falling, busy at work --- How else could I eat that nice, yummy (and salted) corn.

Well you see, I wasn’t expected anything to bother me mid-bite so…I kind of got scared. And with that small little tap I fell. I fell and I fell. And then after a little bit more falling…

Splash!

The only problem here was - - - -

My father and my father’s very nice friend taught me to swim. See, I don’t think anyone can possibly understand how much I feared the water. Whenever my parents forced me on a cruise, I would sit on one of the uncomfortable chairs and stare at the water for hours. First I would merely glance down at it. Then (since I couldn’t help myself) I would glue my eyes on the swishing-swashing, salty water that had challenged me for 16 years. That’s where the contest would begin. I would stare and the sea-water would swish and swash at me. Imagine! How rude.

What reason did the water have to foam out at me and stick its long, salty tongue at my face? What reason I ask! I had a perfect excuse. See – When I was a little girl (about eight) an enormous --- I mean extremely fat, fat… Well maybe she just seemed that big to me with my little eight-year-old eyes. But to sum it up, this lady was not small. So as I was saying, this really big lady jumped of the diving-board of the nice public pool in Fairfield and for some odd reason – A reason I will not understand till this day…

…she landed right on top of…Of well…me.

Ever since then, I’ve never really liked water. So see! I had a reason to glare at the water beneath the big, scary ship I had been so meanly put on.

But all that doesn’t matter anymore because I learned how to swim. You know. From my dad and that nice man – They taught me. I was just sitting down one day and I said to myself…

I’m going to learn how to swim.

And I did. I’ve been swimming like a fish for the last four days. But well…let’s go back to the beginning now shall we…

The only problem here was - - - -

Now that I had finally learned how to swim. Well --- I kind of wouldn’t stop. Something I probably should have mentioned before is probably the reason I decided to learn. It was primarily just to lose weight. Yep. That’s why. But when I got the gist of this swimming thing, I decided that it was actually --- pretty fun.

So for the past few days we’ve been going to the ocean and I’ve been swimming. I swim and I swim and then…I swim some more. I’m always the last one out of the sea --- And the place we go is public mind you. I always force myself because I’m in love with the idea of being tired. I’m in love with just the thought of ‘being tired.’ I like the feeling. I don’t know why.

So after my mind tapped my shoulder-blade with its gentle touch, I fell right into the sea. This happened yesterday by the way. So I fell in, my corn discarded on the floor, and I swam. I swam for four hours yesterday. And I seriously swam! I didn’t just play around, twisting in turning in the water. I swam like a maniac. After those four hours I got out of the ocean, my bathing suit stuck to my body like an irritated octopus ---- And I swear, I have no idea how I walked back to the car. I didn’t even bother with a shower because I could barely stand.

And after I did get home and shower and so on – I couldn’t move. I would lift my hand to only find it fall like dead weight. At one point I just threw myself on to one of the couches. My mom came to see if I was okay after about two minutes of resting and as she left…she did something horrible. Something no mother should ever do to her child. I was trying to sleep and she left without closing the light!

She forgot the light open. And I…

I couldn’t move.