# Writing > Short Story Competition >  Lessons in Breathing

## mr. dudesky

It was summer, must have been the hottest summer I had ever lived through. Walking down Brick street in Johnston, I felt as if I turned a corner into a suburb of hell. Sweat was trickling down my back and my shirt stuck annoyingly to my torso. When I got to the bank it was, to my consternation, closed for another few hours. Fighting the suffocating feelings of dismay and irritation was not easy. I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, focusing on the sound of my breathing and trying to ignore the street noise, the hum of the cars and the general cacophony of the city. Once my mind cleared somewhat, I decided to go to the beach, hoping that the cool breeze would help pass the time until the bank re-opened.
When I got to the mostly empty stretch of sand I was thankful for the intermittent breaths of air blowing through my hair, savoring the sensation as the sweat dried from skin. I shut my eyes and concentrated on the fresh salty air. After a while a faint sound slowly drew my attention. I opened my eyes and in the distance I saw a dim figure out in the water. I realized that whoever it was, man or woman, they were drowning. I looked around for a lifeguard but the beach was deserted. 
I jumped into the undulating sea, and swam towards the figure. Closing in on the figure I noticed she was a woman. Her blond hair stuck to her scalp, her dress must have felt heavy weighing her down and sinking, pulling her downwards, her eyes were wide in fear and she was flailing about as if, ironically, she was a fish out of water. Suddenly she disappeared as a particularly big wave washed over her. My arms and back were aching and my breaths were forced and difficult to draw. When I reached the last place I saw her, I dove below the waves as deep as I could. The salt burned my eyes mirroring the fire in my lungs as my body was screaming for air. I don't remember how many times I dove and how long I fought the current that was pulling me with its ice cold hands to the deep dark waters to the west.
I found myself, sometime after, back on the beach. To this day I couldn't tell you how I got there. I don't know the woman's name. I don't know if she had a husband or children or what she was doing in the water fully dressed. But the look in her eyes is burned into my mind, I wasn't able to save her but she will be with me forever.

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