It was Swimming Day today.

They called it by a different name, but I didn't really want to listen. I don't like water. Water likes to crawl into mouths and nostrils and take over people's breaths. It is a cruel affair. Its pretty blue hue cannot fool me. Its sparkling surface cannot lure me. It cannot tempt me to dip myself into its wavy surface.

Splashes occur and swallow person after person up into its watery belly. Then they float onto the surface, their head down. I assumed they have learnt how to breathe there and are now free of that problem we humans have. I like to believe they are now swimming gracefully, in the air and in the sea, blowing bubbles and chasing fish, twirling clouds and drinking the rain.

We were gathered in a small group near the masses of water in the hall. I peered at them. There was a lifeguard sitting on a high chair. Funny thing it was, a ladder and all, but he caught my gaze and smiled and waved. I waved back.

"We will be learning how to swim today!"

The teacher continued to speak of safety precautions and strokes to swimming in the deep waters. I let my gaze wander around the pools and colourful floats at the side. They looked pretty.

"Remember, you're not allowed to go to the four metre deep pool! That's only for diving, and we're not going to be using it!"

A four metre deep pool. That is really deep. That would be as tall as three and a third of me standing on each other's shoulders.

The teacher blowed her whistle and the others waddled off to a shallow pool. A mark saying "0.2cm" was marked there. What is a "cm"? Does that mean "coconut marks"? I liked coconuts. Maybe the pool is made up of coconut water.

We waded into the water. The water lapped up to my calves. It was safe, at least, and I dipped my head down to lick the waves. The disappointing taste of plain water, accompanied by some unknown disgusting substance, hit my tongue.

"Now, let's practise the moves!"

I copied the teacher's arm movements, working our way through different strokes in the air. I glanced at my swimsuit for the seventh time that day, and glowed in pleasure. It was my pride and love, a beautiful shade of dark blue, sleeves adorned with frills and embroidered flowers.

After a long, long time of flapping our arms and kicking our legs around in the shallow waters, the teacher told us to take a break and drink some water.

My friends scurried to the benches, chattering and drinking their fill. I caught sight of a student nibbling on an apple, and my belly grumbled like the rumbling depths of the pools.

Water squelched under my soles as I stepped over to the deep blue ripples. The teachers were busy fussing over the boy who had choked on his apple and was now spewing tears like a fountain, and the lifeguard was nowhere to be seen.

I climbed up the tall steps and glanced down. People looked like ants now. I stepped onto a diving board and tested it. It looked nice enough. Bouncy. Like a trampoline.

I prepared for a launch. Then I jumped, the surroundings whirling and blurring from my sight, focusing entirely on the rippling water underneath me.

I closed my eyes, readying myself for the impact.

The water swallowed me whole, wrapping me with comforting arms and embracing me in its warm grasp. It welcomed me into the water. I breathed out and looked up at the surface, which was slowly, but surely, becoming a rippling mess above me.

Light filtered through the waves and shone onto my skin. My lungs felt starved, but my belly was satisfied. I was satisfied. Now I could see my future - my parents embracing me in their arms, hugging me tight, celebrating my reunion with them. I could see the joy on their faces, a joy I could never forget.

I sighed in the water, contented as I watched the last of the stale air in my chest bubbling up and floating to the surface. My eyelids drooped and covered my eyes, and in the darkness I saw my parents extending their arms towards me.

And as muffled shrieks resounded in my ears, and a pair of arms hauled me up onto the cold tiles, I knew that somehow, I would be able to see my parents again.

I felt my breathing disappear as the last of horrified screams faded from my ears.