Phobia - Beneath Still Waters

I used to believe the ocean was calm, like a sleeping beast.

But that was before it woke up inside me.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡosqef0NSWO

My name is Eli. I’ve never gone near deep water since I was six.

My earliest memory is of drowning but they said it never happened.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IFSy4vEVk

“You just panicked,” my mother once whispered, brushing my hair away from my soaked face.

“There was no deep end, Eli.”

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUvzURo7QP

But I remember the silence.

The way the water swallowed sound.

The way it clung to my skin like a living thing.

The cold hands pulling me down.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVXyqfyMAB

Since then, I avoided pools, lakes, oceans even bathtubs when I was young.

I’d shower with the door open.

And whenever it rained too hard, I’d tremble.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNxH0moSUG5

My friends called me names behind my back.

Coward. Mermaid boy. Shark bait.

I smiled. Let them laugh.

Better to be afraid than to be dead.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLADWuNkDd

But last summer, everything changed.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmS3hbhqxX6

My uncle, a marine biologist, invited me on a trip to Zanzibar.

“Sun, peace, and a little ocean adventure,” he said.

He didn’t know about the fear. I never told him.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbNrG2kqad

The hotel was perfect right by the water.

But every wave sounded like a warning.

Every splash felt personal.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6doQP3xLg

Then came the worst day.

Uncle signed us up for a reef dive.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ32ylcNYG6j

My body went numb. I considered faking illness fever, food poisoning, anything.

But something inside me was tired.

Tired of running.

Tired of being owned by a shadow.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡslErWlUXI3

So, I said yes.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9okPZWzFUU

That night, I barely slept.

I stared at the ceiling, heart pounding, hands trembling.

In my dreams, I was back underwater choking, screaming, sinking.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ7jsOVNTw5

The next morning, the boat was waiting.

I moved like a puppet.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBGL6it7X0C

The instructor handed me a wetsuit. “First time?”

I nodded.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWfpcICRHSK

“Don’t worry,” she smiled. “You’ll love it.”

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEs7DVIeWH7

I didn’t answer. My mouth was dry. My skin itched.

The mask. The tank. The regulator.

All of it felt like chains.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm8rsblxdlv

I stood at the edge of the boat, staring into the vast blue.

It looked endless.

It looked hungry.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK6uSlHkOyb

I jumped.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPpavlBvGt

The water wrapped around me like a ghost from my past.

It was cold.

Too cold.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFquDDb4pck

Panic rose.

My vision blurred.

I forgot to breathe.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4nrr9wnUv

Then I heard her voice the instructor through the earpiece.

“Breathe, Eli. In. Out. Slowly.”

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsECW8NbkB

I tried.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0gxLUXvhD

One breath. Two. Three.

My lungs remembered.

My heartbeat slowed.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bFHtzkbVf

Down we went.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY4Je5g61kN

Ten feet.

Twenty.

Thirty.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGiq1056ZlV

Coral gardens appeared.

Colorful fish danced around us like spirits.

A turtle floated by, majestic and slow.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO8eCRDEuH2

My fear was still there.

But something else grew inside me wonder.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw9RgIUqivG

Then… I saw it.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99eWM7HHlg

A shadow.

Human-shaped.

Floating.

Facing me.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7nTMSJ24p

Eyes wide. Face pale.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wXlXude6M

It was… me.

But younger.

Six-year-old Eli.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuD0GSuWp78

I froze.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCuwkBqHZxd

He didn’t move.

Just stared.

Accusing.

Afraid.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCv9xkipMeo

I swam forward, slowly.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLpPrDxBSGl

My hand reached out — trembling — toward my younger self.

He blinked. Then… smiled.

And vanished.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS3rKNW4BeW

I surfaced, gasping.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZM4YDQVQR7

The sky was bright.

The waves gentle.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdYkaGGFJw

My uncle called out. “You okay?”

I nodded.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsUzlhOvvtL

But I wasn’t just okay.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvMGMtUhiN

I was new.

Reborn.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbmRxmBRKP

That night, I dreamed of water again.

But this time, I wasn’t drowning.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlbRbxE5Du7

I was swimming.

75Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvk7unNvfR

ns216.73.216.146da2

Beneath Still Waters

REGISTER

LOGIN

Interface Language:

Story Language: