Home.

"Just run in. Just do it. Because if you touch your toe in and try to wade in slowly, your going to back out. Just do it. Trust me."

I stood there facing my adventursome roomate and the mediterranean sea was calling me. The waves crashed on my toes - cold as ice in Antarctica.

I felt like I should be in some kind of health class movie. " And remember kids, don't give in to your daredevil roommate! Don't go swimming in subfreezing unhealthy water! Live above the Influence!!" The devil and the angel commence thier cross-shoulder banter:

"Don't do it! The water is so cold - you'll freeze to death!"

" Its going to be an amazing experience...you'll get to tell people you swam in the Mediterranean"

"But it's so cold! You'll get hypothermia"

"come on. It's the mediterranean. You have to swim. Look how clear the water is. You'll never get this on Jones Beach where the water is warm and brown".

I looked out onto the clear blue water and the rock formations. Together they created the perfect picture post card.

So what did I do?

I ran.

I ran away. I ran from school and from pressure. From essays and from books and from responsibilities.

What next?

I dove.

I ignored all the voices telling me I couldn't do something.

I ignored my freezing body, which told me to get out of the water.

I dove into the ice box, and that ice box soon became my heart.

And then I was numb.

The water felt warm and cool and warm and cool and warm again.

And then, there was nothing.

Nothing but a clear crystal blue. A reflection of my swimming body entered my retina.

I looked around at my friends and the rock formations.

The people speaking french around me.

I looked at the freezing cold water that was so petrifying yet so inviting.

Where was I?

I was home.