A deep blue breath

As I swam deeper and deeper among the coral I couldn't help but follow that beautiful music, as if a seashell orchestra was luring me in. Then as I rounded the old wreck and despite the oxygen tanks on my back, I found it suddenly impossible to draw breath. There before swam a shoal of mermaids, laughing and playing with the fishes and tangling an octopus' legs. They saw me and stopped and stared bemused. I finally gulped down some air but movement was impossible as fear kept my limbs from movement.

Mermaids are stories, fiction.... No one had ever really seen one.... or at least lived to tell the tale. What would be my fate?

As I floated in that deep palace of greens and blues, the beautiful creatures pulled at my tanks and played with my flippers but with no real strength or aggression. They were fascinated by the bubbles my spent breath leaked out into the ocean and chased them toward the surface before racing back down and pulling at my arms encouraging me to join in their games.

Their sweet smiles and gentle natures thawed my fear frozen limbs and I began to swim alongside them, joining in their games in the same way I had raced the dolphins the day before. They took me deeper, in and out of caves and crevices. We swam, span and swirled in the currents and laughed at the startled sea creatures that fled from our path.

Time lost all meaning and I did not notice my tanks empty; I just kept on swimming and diving and playing and splashing and swishing my tail and undulating my body like the waves above that had now become my home...

My entry for 'breathe' the Inspiration Avenue challenge this week - and also some of the work I've been doing for Tam's Mythical art class on Willowing.ning.

I'm kinda liking these sea creatures. Expect to see more...

While we are on the subject of 'breath'... Seven years ago today, my son took his first as he popped into the world full of love and wonder. Happy Birthday my little Munchkin! xxxx