A world below.

A world below.

I stood, looking over the side of the boat and watching the water race beneath me. The sky’s golden eye reached its arms toward my face and stroked my cheeks with its warm fingers. My skin was clammy under the wetsuit, which clung to me like a damp cloth, and my muscles tensed in anticipation.

Finally the deep roar of the engine faded to a lull, as the boat slowed to a stop. I pulled my mask down over my eyes and positioned the snorkel by my mouth. I walked awkwardly towards the rear of the vessel, a pair of canary-yellow flippers attached to my legs, then sat on the end of the boat. As I slid my body into the blue, the flippers sliced through the glassy surface of the water, sending small waves of indignant fragments, fleeing from their fury. A long rope had been strung out behind the boat and I pulled myself along it, feeding the line between my hands. The rope had been sectioned with floating balls that ensured it didn’t sink to the ocean bed.

Setting the snorkel firmly in my mouth, I ducked my head beneath the waves. Time seemed to slow down and all noise above the water’s surface was muted. In fact, it was if the entire world as I knew it had vanished completely and all that was left was this hazy existence, flickering shadows about me. Bursts of light were reflected in the murkiness, then refracted into tiny splinters of rainbow colour.

And amongst all this wonder, a high-pitched whistling came to me, ascending gradually in volume. Through the floating particles in the water I saw their dim outlines growing steadily bigger. Blue-grey in colour and perfect in form, their tails rose and fell in one graceful movement, propelling their bodies ever closer to me.

The creatures swam within an arm’s distance of me and my breath caught in my chest, as I gazed at them in awe: Three dolphins, grouped close together and near enough for me to touch. They passed below me like royalty, unaware of the emotions they had stirred within me. Sun rays bounced off their gleaming skin, dazzling me. I had always thought of dolphins as grey, but in my eyes that day they shone with every colour of the rainbow.

Their figures disappeared from my sight, fading into their surroundings with a beautiful grace and dexterity. They had been in my vision for only ten seconds or so, but it seemed so much longer and the occasion passed as if in slow motion. Holding the rope, I spun myself around to face the opposite direction. A small dolphin was playing a few metres from me and swam in my direction, passing just by me, beneath the rope. Microscopic bubbles filled my vision and when they cleared, the animal was too far for me to see through the swirl of water.

I felt my snorkel shift, letting in a mouthful of saltwater; so I pushed myself to the surface and emerged into the sunlight, squinting against its brilliance. I removed the snorkel and spat the water, tasting the bitter salt on my lips.

A man on board the boat was signalling me to come back to the boat, so I dragged myself reluctantly to the craft and clambered aboard. I peeled off the mask and snorkel and, feeling my feet begin to itch, I removed the flippers. My eyes kept averting back to the water, looking out for the dolphins I knew were swimming below the waves. After changing into more comfortable clothes, I stood at the bow of the vessel, gazing out into the ocean depths. A pair of dolphins raced the boat, swimming alongside and leaping into the air every so often. I smiled contentedly and closed my eyes, engraving the scene into my memory.

This is the memory I call to me now - my ‘happy place’, as they say. Each time he grunts, each painful thrust, each slap across my face, I close my eyes and picture that world below, that peaceful world of rainbow light.