Breathe For Me (BoyxBoy)

Breathe For Me - Prologue

I gasp for breath, reaching desperately for the surface. This isn't my fault...I'm not the best swimmer.

I can't breathe.

Dark spots appear and cloud my vision, and I know that this is the end. I'm only sixteen, and I don't want to die like this.

My hand breaks the surface of Lake Ontario, cold wind biting at my fair skin. Oxygen fills my lungs, and I savor it, realizing how much I take every breath for granted. The sun blinds me for a moment, and then I wake up from my nightmare.

I bolt upright in my bed, my head pounding. My heart is beating faster than it did even last night. Ever since my family moved into our small summer home on Wolfe Island, I've been dreaming of deadly water.

Looking around my dark room, the moon barely managing to shine through a small space between the bottom of my blinds and the chipped, white windowsill, I try to calm myself.

It's alright, Ethan. I think to myself. Just a dream. It's always just a dream.

Sighing with relief, I flop back down onto my bed. I'm so glad I was able to prevent the panic attack before it started tonight. Every day, they get worse and worse. I feel so out of control. It feels like my anxiety is taking over my life.

Glancing over at my flashing digital clock, I groan at the time. Three in the morning. I need to get some rest if I want to go out tomorrow; I'm planning on braving the beach, but if I'm too tired, I fear that my nightmare will become a reality. At the thought, I feel my heart speeding up again. I push my worries out of my mind and pull the thin, green bedsheets up to my chin.

After a while of laying in the darkness, counting up to one hundred and backwards to one, I've calmed myself.

As I once again fall into the darkness of sleep, I somehow manage to crack a smile. Maybe this summer, I'll be able to change for the better. Maybe I'll be able to face my fears...and not only the ones related to water.

Mercifully, I don't dream again tonight.