That night, I couldn't help but wonder what my life would be like if I could get back into the water. As my mind wandered, I opened my closet door and sat down on my knees. Way in the back of the closet there was a box. It was old and covered in dust.

I sighed and opened it. Despite the box being so dusty, the inside was clean. Inside, lying neatly on top, was my old swim uniform. I pulled it out and held it in my hands. The blue material was faded, but the black still looked the same. It wasn't as soft as it used to be. My name was still stitched on the inside, though the sting was frayed and coming undone.

Underneath the uniform, were small trophies and medals that had lost their shine. The trophies were all topped with swimmers in various positions. Some looked like they were swimming, others looked like they were diving, and one was just standing but it had goggles on its head.

At the very bottom of the box were the photos. Some of them were labeled. Cordelia's First Meet. Semi-Finals. 1st place! Others were just random pictures. Some of them I was swimming, others I was mid-dive, but my favorite pictures were the ones with my teammates. After every meet, we would all stand next to each other, arms around each other's shoulders, and we would take a picture.

I continued looking through the pictures until I got to the last one. It must've been taken right after one of Leon and I's arguments. We were standing next to each other, both facing the opposite direction. Our arms were crossed, but you could clearly see the smiles on both of our faces. It was a small smile, as if I was trying to hide it. Though small, it held so much joy. I couldn't remember the last time I had smiled so sincerely. But that time of my life was over. I placed everything back into the box, closed it, and put it back where it belonged. The back of the closet.

To be continued...