Into the Deep

He stood there in the room by himself. The cold creeping through his veins, to his heart. He feet felt like lead, frozen to the floor. He just stood there staring at his reflection in the mirror.

While he stared, the mirror suddenly changed, a time portal that carried him to the past when he was little lad. He could see himself in a teeny tiny swimming trunk with a float tied around his waist.

He was standing there with tears streaming down his face. His coach was already in the pool, and so were many of his friends. They were all trying to encourage him to jump and join them. But he couldn’t get himself to do it. He was afraid of doing it. He had been swimming in the kiddy pool for so long. What if he couldn’t swim, what if he were to drown.

He was frozen at the spot. Then suddenly someone caught him, and flung him into the pool. As he hit the water,  panic set in, before instinct set in. He began paddling furiously towards the shallow end.

When he reached the safety, he spat out all the water. He stood there shivering, furiously trying to find the one who had thrown him in the pool.

That was when he heard a familiar voice. It was his mum. She told him it would be alright. She took his hand and asked him to paddle, as she slowly guided him to the deep-end.

He hesitatingly started paddling, slowly and steadily feeling the pool floor disappearing underneath him. He kept paddling with her help, till he was confident enough to swim on his own. 

He joined his friends and from there his coach took over instructing his students what to do.

From that day on it was no more swimming in the shallows, it was the deep for him.

And just like that, the mirror brought him back to the present. He heard someone call him.

His feet were no longer frozen to the floor. He adjusted his bow, and slowly made himself out of the room and to his designated spot.

He stood there, and took a deep breath. He could feel all the eyes on him, threatening to burn through his skin, making him feel uncomfortable and nervous once again.

That’s when the door opened. There she was, a vision in white. Their eyes met, leading to knowing smile. The people vanished. It was just the two of them.

With each step she took towards him, the cold released the hold that it had over his heart. 

He knew that which each step they took to each other they were moving from the shallows and into the deep-end of life.

When he took her hands in his, he knew they would make it, together swimming in the the deep-end of life.