Beginnings

Boom!

We were off as if shot out of a cannon, flying through the water as if our lives depended on it. We'd been waiting, waiting, waiting, jostling for position as the starting pistol rose. 

The tension was unbearable - one second, two seconds, three. They may as well have been hours, time devolving into meaninglessness as we shifted on nervous feet. 

But none of that mattered now as we bumped each other this way and that. This was my shot and I'd be damned if anyone was going to get in my way. Not this time. 

I saw a few go off course, distracted by nooks and crannies and dead ends. But I knew better: keep going straight, keep going strong, keep going, keep going. 

The initial excitement and enthusiasm was shifting into something else now as we dug deeper into energy reserves we didn't know were there. I could see alliances forming, little packs where they could encourage each other along. Not me, I thought, this is one you win solo. This isn't a prize you can share. Friendships are for fools in here. 

So on I swam, pushing harder and harder. And one by one, the herd thinned. Christ knows how many of us there'd been at the start, I didn't care enough to count. Five or five hundred, it didn't matter, only one of us was going to get there first. I daren’t glance behind me. I could feel them nipping at my heels, so I soldiered on. 

I rounded a corner and there it was. And it was beautiful, and huge. And it was all mine. I didn't allow myself the moment to take it in - this was the final furlong, you can't lose focus now. I just chose a spot and charged straight at it. 

I could feel myself flagging, but I was so close I could taste it. And before I knew it, I was there.

She hugged me, enveloped me, and we were one. She took me in, drank in every last drop of me, our beings entwining forever. 

She pulled me close and whispered into me: “Congratulations, now the hard work really starts. Let's make a baby.”