in the distance, i can hear a muffled sound. i can't decipher any words, they float around my ears and pass by in ripples. in my left hand i clutch a key, its edges splitting the palm of my hand. in my right hand, a thread. i can't seem to remember why i have this thread.. i recall it being very long. parts of it seem to be lightly wrapped around my legs, entwining around my thighs and down my calf. it's restraining something in the distance.. or maybe it's restraining me? i can't recall how i got here. how i let myself get so far in the deep.. do i have an anchor? do i need one? .. did i think i was the anchor all along?

from this depth, i can sense the waves above me. a symphony rising and lowering itself - keeping a balance. my eyes finally open; a dark mossy green infinite unravels before me. i'm suspended maybe 2 inches from the ocean floor, the thread wrapped around my body, thru my hand and disappearing somewhere in-front of me. another muffled sound makes its way surrounding my being.

--thought-- which way am i facing..?
am i facing the shore? am i facing the direction to go deeper into the unknown?

in the distance, a flicker. floating; reflecting. have i been slowly turning upside down? is there still light outside?

i squint, trying to make out the object. [another distorted sound occurs] and immediately following a bouquet of bubbles interferes between the object and i, but somehow diagonally? i must be rotated to some angle. something has plunged into this ocean with me. i cant make out its shape- i try to rebalance myself but find the thread has surrounded more of my body, bonding not only my legs but my arms as well. at this moment, i am unable to move. i stare into the pockets of air. they begin to surround me. us.

a hand reaches out between beads of oxygen, it's reaching for the key in my left hand. this key i have tightly affirmed in my grasp. i can feel the thread tighten its grip around my body.

here, i close my eyes.
here, it holds my hand.

i have somehow found myself with my back resting on the ocean floor--