I sensed that my head was filling with air, that it would continue filling until it finally burst. Pressure built behind my eyes. I had a horrible vision of them popping free from my skull. Then I was crashing through the darkness, my body banging from surface to surface. My knees, my elbows, my coccyx (butt), my head—slapping, cracking, and tumbling into oblivion.
Then nothing.
Forever.
Then the sounds of trickling, the blackness around me filling with water. My eyes were open, but I couldn't see! Were they open?Yes, I was blinking them! But then I grew tired of blinking them. I let them close. I listened to the falling water. And slept.
More nothing, only sleep, but not sleep—unconsciousness. I couldn't allow that. That was the kiss of death! I had to fight. I couldn't let myself pass out. I had to stay awake. "Svetlana," I whispered into the darkness. Svetlana... I breathed my name and clung to the world.
Voices now.
"Over here!" someone shouted.
Splashing sounds, then thumping sounds as I was rocked in the blackness.
Suddenly, a stabbing light and cold water falling over my face. I squeezed my eyes against the brightness. Hands grabbed and pulled.
"I found someone!" the voice shouted.
I was lifted away.