Have you ever been underwater so long your skin begins to wrinkle?  Better still, have you ever been under water so long you would gasp for air when you came up again?  And what if it were reversed?  What if you found it harder to breath above water than below?  I can’t remember when it was, but I dove below the surface some time ago; maybe to escape, maybe to explore.  I found myself floating in dark shades of green or even red that swirled and mixed but they were always dark and empty.  At first my breath was shallow, slowly growing deeper.  Sometimes the water was warm, sometimes the water was bitter cold, and when it was cold I would look to the surface above me.  There was always light there and I could make out distorted images and bright colors through the ripples of the water.  Whatever those pictures were, I knew I wanted them.  I would sometimes rise above the surface to experience them; sometimes a limb, sometimes an eye, sometimes I would rise to take a breath of the air above, but it somehow burned, and I would sink again below the water to seek out a warm spot to rest and recover.  I float closer to the surface now than I ever did.  I try to spend as much time there as possible, but I know I will return beneath the waves eventually.  Someday I hope to stay up there, looking out over this water, breathing deeply, and smiling to myself.