With summer in full swing, today’s #1lineWed theme seemed like a no-brainer. Except I really didn’t have either word in my WIP. I about to SINK into a sea of dispair rather. In other works, I had a kitchen sink. My characters often sink to their knees. No one was ready to swim in the current project, though I’ve had tears that swim. So what did I do? I sat down to do a bit of free writing. And I got a scene. Today’s snippet is short because it turned out to be something of a spoiler so y’all get only a short tease. I have hopes that this scene will get me on track with the end of the book, so stay tuned.
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Shy
I swam up through foggy darkness. I was holding my breath and my heart pounded so hard in my ears I couldn’t hear. Where was I? I couldn’t move. A heavy, warm weight blanketed me.

“Breathe, babe.” The order, one I needed to obey, whispered in my ear.

My body ached. Bad. Almost as bad as those first days in boot camp when the drill instructors drove us to the point we grunts could only faceplant in our bunks at night and sink into exhausted sleep.
Whatever held me down slid away and that gruff voice teased my hearing again. “Dammit, Shy. Breathe.”

I inhaled and coughed as air hit my lungs and my ribs expanded.

“Come back to me, baby.”

Where had I been that I needed to come back from? I breathed again, and it came easier. Or it did before memories flooded through me, swamping my brain so I stopped breathing again. Rough hands clamped on my shoulders, hauling me up, shaking me until I gulped in another breath. I remembered now. I remembered the men circling like sharks. I remembered the sound of thunder. I remembered…
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So how is your day going? Are you sinking or swimming? Writers, do you have any sink or swim words to share?