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open. Another burst of howling air exploded, ripping me off balance. I didn't have time to think, only to react. My legs flew out from under me, arms reaching out, but my ocean view became nothing but sky. Gravity yanked me in the water, pain piercing my skull. I barely registered the blow before darkness hit.

 
     
     
     
     
     

4. RESURFACE
     
     
     
     
     
     
    I sensed danger but couldn't do anything to help myself, stuck in a bad dream I couldn't wake up from. Was I asleep or awake? Dead or alive? Time stood still as strange shapes and shadows flashed before me then turned dark again. The horrible, trapped feeling grew, suffocating.
    No light. No air. No escape.
    My mother's face appeared through the black. I wanted to reach out, but I couldn't move. I was helpless. Mom smiled at me, giving me a fleeting moment of hope. She said everything would be all right; then she swirled and floated away, dispersing into darkness.
    A burning spread through my chest. I tried to make sense of something— anything . My head ached, like a balloon was inflating beneath my skull, ready to pop. Confusion mounted, thoughts ending before they began. When would it stop?
    I fought, pulling away from the deep towards light. The fog lifted slowly. I was still disoriented but somehow I was making my escape. My mother's words began to ring true—I would be all right. Wherever I was going to find myself when I regained consciousness, it was going to be okay.
    My mind worked overtime to pull through the haze. I sensed the air surrounding me, cool and flowing beneath my legs. My body was limp but I was moving. Warmth wrapped around me, carrying me to safety. I gasped, searching for air. Intense stinging pulsed through my nose as I sputtered out the choking water.
    I found dry ground beneath me as I wheezed, soaking up every molecule of oxygen my body could take in. My throat tightened. I coughed and heaved again and again, extracting the burning water.
    Slowly my chest relaxed and relief washed over me. My head throbbed, but it was manageable pain because I felt real again. I had escaped the endless night.
    I gained control as I lay on my back in the sand with my eyes closed, devoid of strength. Yes, it was sand beneath me. At least I could figure out that much. And I was wet.
    A deep voice crooned in the background, strong and soothing. “Can you hear me? You're going to be okay. You're safe now.”
    My eyes fluttered open, searching for the voice, blinking to clear away the fuzzy vision. As I came into focus, two shimmering eyes gazed down at me in concern. Could it be? I blinked again. Was I hallucinating? They were…they were… the eyes,the ones from my dream.
    I was almost certain. They were the glowing green eyes I’d spent the day searching for at school; the ones that sparkled, with the mystery person attached to them.
    I’d spent half the day chasing after these eyes and now here they were. By some wonderful twist of fate, the eyes from my dreams now hovered over me as I shivered. As if the toss of the waves hadn't rattled me enough, his penetrating stare sent me into shock.
    My wide eyes couldn’t break from his. I'd never felt so elated to be driven to delusion.  My mouth gaped open, causing me to lose my breath and cough repeatedly.
    “Just relax,” he said. “You should start to feel better in a few minutes.” His voice was so calming.
    I continued to gape at him, speechless. No earthly gemstone compared to the brilliance of the eyes peering down at me. They were like aqua diamonds, brilliant and crystal clear like the waters of a waveless Caribbean beach. The inner circle surrounded by a deeper ring of emerald and a tiny hint of blue. They glowed, with facets refracting light in every direction.
    They were mesmerizing. They didn't seem real. He didn't seem real.
    Maybe this wasn't real at all. Maybe it was just a creation in my mind, shielding itself from a slow, drowning death.
    I reached my hand to his face to feel