No Plagiarism!zAA4KmOWeKkJAFqrd9vpposted on PENANA I used to believe the ocean was calm, like a sleeping beast.8964 copyright protection71PENANACH2I1BPaf3 維尼
But that was before it woke up inside me.8964 copyright protection71PENANArzxPrub1dv 維尼
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My name is Eli. I’ve never gone near deep water since I was six.8964 copyright protection71PENANATfN0Eqx1OF 維尼
My earliest memory is of drowning but they said it never happened.8964 copyright protection71PENANAKGtsqEIClJ 維尼
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“You just panicked,” my mother once whispered, brushing my hair away from my soaked face.8964 copyright protection71PENANAPIej8yDGbY 維尼
“There was no deep end, Eli.”8964 copyright protection71PENANARWzL2FzqPI 維尼
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But I remember the silence.8964 copyright protection71PENANAHBdXGFRd96 維尼
The way the water swallowed sound.8964 copyright protection71PENANAUB5wgzh5fq 維尼
The way it clung to my skin like a living thing.8964 copyright protection71PENANAawGlS3woxc 維尼
The cold hands pulling me down.8964 copyright protection71PENANA7U68Ijl7wT 維尼
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Since then, I avoided pools, lakes, oceans even bathtubs when I was young.8964 copyright protection71PENANAaeJojQqyyv 維尼
I’d shower with the door open.8964 copyright protection71PENANAfJUZBfn3Or 維尼
And whenever it rained too hard, I’d tremble.8964 copyright protection71PENANAwwqsKkKJJQ 維尼
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My friends called me names behind my back.8964 copyright protection71PENANAc9WmO85dJg 維尼
Coward. Mermaid boy. Shark bait.8964 copyright protection71PENANARyTncrFACy 維尼
I smiled. Let them laugh.8964 copyright protection71PENANAwjDp9kuyux 維尼
Better to be afraid than to be dead.8964 copyright protection71PENANAQvOjrmP0FM 維尼
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But last summer, everything changed.8964 copyright protection71PENANAlpZZb0KaP7 維尼
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My uncle, a marine biologist, invited me on a trip to Zanzibar.8964 copyright protection71PENANAmkVvPGF2Pb 維尼
“Sun, peace, and a little ocean adventure,” he said.8964 copyright protection71PENANAUV5XziLiLM 維尼
He didn’t know about the fear. I never told him.8964 copyright protection71PENANAVGBZwI8Os7 維尼
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The hotel was perfect right by the water.8964 copyright protection71PENANAz1DEVvWrbW 維尼
But every wave sounded like a warning.8964 copyright protection71PENANAOtaqdjOFqC 維尼
Every splash felt personal.8964 copyright protection71PENANASCBcl5s5df 維尼
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Then came the worst day.8964 copyright protection71PENANAfnj6BmFg97 維尼
Uncle signed us up for a reef dive.8964 copyright protection71PENANAEc6kCNnBtG 維尼
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My body went numb. I considered faking illness fever, food poisoning, anything.8964 copyright protection71PENANA1CGJnjYRHi 維尼
But something inside me was tired.8964 copyright protection71PENANAdWQDkwMZF8 維尼
Tired of running.8964 copyright protection71PENANAWoHLPolToQ 維尼
Tired of being owned by a shadow.8964 copyright protection71PENANAJ2PSRoeTPv 維尼
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So, I said yes.8964 copyright protection71PENANAE8dEoqNUG0 維尼
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That night, I barely slept.8964 copyright protection71PENANAljgVnBM424 維尼
I stared at the ceiling, heart pounding, hands trembling.8964 copyright protection71PENANAEiEWB7oZZJ 維尼
In my dreams, I was back underwater choking, screaming, sinking.8964 copyright protection71PENANAWK5rwh7qhh 維尼
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The next morning, the boat was waiting.8964 copyright protection71PENANAOfkrcrTnSs 維尼
I moved like a puppet.8964 copyright protection71PENANAHmmkt6m5zR 維尼
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The instructor handed me a wetsuit. “First time?”8964 copyright protection71PENANAnlFQzJqu1N 維尼
I nodded.8964 copyright protection71PENANAkdq5UOsEbf 維尼
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“Don’t worry,” she smiled. “You’ll love it.”8964 copyright protection71PENANATXQ8z4UToq 維尼
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I didn’t answer. My mouth was dry. My skin itched.8964 copyright protection71PENANAyMqV1oaMlI 維尼
The mask. The tank. The regulator.8964 copyright protection71PENANABUToiQk4sM 維尼
All of it felt like chains.8964 copyright protection71PENANA7Xn8hJuOd2 維尼
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I stood at the edge of the boat, staring into the vast blue.8964 copyright protection71PENANASvptfMgu77 維尼
It looked endless.8964 copyright protection71PENANAxnr480cYNs 維尼
It looked hungry.8964 copyright protection71PENANATa10p0rEgU 維尼
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I jumped.8964 copyright protection71PENANAfTkHXOOwsC 維尼
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The water wrapped around me like a ghost from my past.8964 copyright protection71PENANAG6btK50UIa 維尼
It was cold.8964 copyright protection71PENANAtkEeZtGyMS 維尼
Too cold.8964 copyright protection71PENANAKhEB4oqDzV 維尼
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Panic rose.8964 copyright protection71PENANAyvz7tMg4Fz 維尼
My vision blurred.8964 copyright protection71PENANAXr3iJqA2lX 維尼
I forgot to breathe.8964 copyright protection71PENANA0yHpKVTjsk 維尼
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Then I heard her voice the instructor through the earpiece.8964 copyright protection71PENANArmmcFjiU6T 維尼
“Breathe, Eli. In. Out. Slowly.”8964 copyright protection71PENANAIGWy21fhSH 維尼
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I tried.8964 copyright protection71PENANAmk818kneNA 維尼
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One breath. Two. Three.8964 copyright protection71PENANAOxibKY3uGE 維尼
My lungs remembered.8964 copyright protection71PENANAzNJr7Kc22f 維尼
My heartbeat slowed.8964 copyright protection71PENANAKitc0Kc7fk 維尼
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Down we went.8964 copyright protection71PENANAmGo2c2nnxb 維尼
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Ten feet.8964 copyright protection71PENANAE54CbcVaCD 維尼
Twenty.8964 copyright protection71PENANA34m2nrEKuF 維尼
Thirty.8964 copyright protection71PENANAGxt3ds5kwT 維尼
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Coral gardens appeared.8964 copyright protection71PENANAdKTtqtGAVE 維尼
Colorful fish danced around us like spirits.8964 copyright protection71PENANAXTh9PkEYbs 維尼
A turtle floated by, majestic and slow.8964 copyright protection71PENANAlXMquwZ2lz 維尼
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My fear was still there.8964 copyright protection71PENANAaolRiKnZu4 維尼
But something else grew inside me wonder.8964 copyright protection71PENANAbGGktwTl6C 維尼
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Then… I saw it.8964 copyright protection71PENANAlluMg0GKbi 維尼
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A shadow.8964 copyright protection71PENANAZFsOfgurBz 維尼
Human-shaped.8964 copyright protection71PENANAJu4VsfFCOq 維尼
Floating.8964 copyright protection71PENANAmEw7v6iJNj 維尼
Facing me.8964 copyright protection71PENANA2umyBWvg3f 維尼
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Eyes wide. Face pale.8964 copyright protection71PENANAyyJz5hBmPd 維尼
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It was… me.8964 copyright protection71PENANAvRAe1KSssL 維尼
But younger.8964 copyright protection71PENANA8128ygPe6C 維尼
Six-year-old Eli.8964 copyright protection71PENANAnQ61fA43w0 維尼
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I froze.8964 copyright protection71PENANAMRdvXWXx45 維尼
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He didn’t move.8964 copyright protection71PENANAik2Gqlffvf 維尼
Just stared.8964 copyright protection71PENANAxNhxChiU82 維尼
Accusing.8964 copyright protection71PENANAX5fIH7dOtP 維尼
Afraid.8964 copyright protection71PENANA7R6S22fzCt 維尼
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I swam forward, slowly.8964 copyright protection71PENANA06wggrRGQB 維尼
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My hand reached out — trembling — toward my younger self.8964 copyright protection71PENANAg7Jw3N94n4 維尼
He blinked. Then… smiled.8964 copyright protection71PENANASwZVkSYCYc 維尼
And vanished.8964 copyright protection71PENANAy6LNORfGIe 維尼
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I surfaced, gasping.8964 copyright protection71PENANAJL0LEipAWJ 維尼
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The sky was bright.8964 copyright protection71PENANAqZ3fwx99eb 維尼
The waves gentle.8964 copyright protection71PENANAKkRNXuzfev 維尼
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My uncle called out. “You okay?”8964 copyright protection71PENANAcnh82miGSe 維尼
I nodded.8964 copyright protection71PENANABn1qWixF2G 維尼
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But I wasn’t just okay.8964 copyright protection71PENANAkHeFx8ip7i 維尼
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I was new.8964 copyright protection71PENANA5qW3kktGTR 維尼
Reborn.8964 copyright protection71PENANA1t7tsRA4NF 維尼
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That night, I dreamed of water again.8964 copyright protection71PENANAivFUcnaWnX 維尼
But this time, I wasn’t drowning.8964 copyright protection71PENANApILDIpfTLj 維尼
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I was swimming.8964 copyright protection71PENANA8PwR5qpOB5 維尼
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