I stared up, up, up, to the world above me. Even if I couldn’t go up there, I could at least imagine.

I let my forehead break the surface of the freezing water, and then my eyes, my nose, and my mouth. Soon my whole head was out. Leaves rippled on the water around my face, and the feverish autumn winds blew roughly across my straw colored hair, sending it swirling about my head. I flexed my muscles, preparing to jump.

Splash.

Out of the water, into the cool air of the world, and then, much too quickly, back down into the dark despairs of the world I now knew all too well.

I swam down, down, faster and faster, towards the cave I shared with the fantastical creatures I now called my family.

I didn’t look back.

Why should I?