A single mother on her path to discover the world and herself

Hysteria rose up in tiny luminescent bubbles, bursting on the surface as it caught the sunlight. A persistent roaring in my ears drowned out all sound. Bad choice of words I thought as my breath caught. The mammoth beast blocked all light as I struggled to get away from it. A visceral fear gripped me. Was this the way it was going to end then? Frantic, I kicked. Flailing arms tried to hold on to something, anything I could use to hoist myself away. Scraping past me, the monster moved on. I had escaped. My long held breath released in a series of perfectly round circles. As my eyelids drooped down on a sigh of relief I felt something brush my arm. In a split second my lax body went into fight mode again. This was not what I had anticipated.
A school of bright blue and yellow fish brushed past me to get at the morsels of food being dropped into the water from the boat. Wide-eyed, I opened my mouth, letting go of the mouthpiece that was supplying oxygen to me and gulping in seawater. Panic struck as the salt burnt my throat leaving behind an acrid aftertaste. Gasping, I grabbed the floating mouthpiece back, stuffed it back into my mouth and took short breaths. Through the black curtain of my hair, wildly waving in front of me, I saw him swim towards me. He took my hand and keeping a firm grip on it tugged me closer to him. Together we swam forward. Fish with white stripes and dots on purple scales edged with burnt orange swirled past us. The wonder in my eyes was mirrored in his. We touched the abrasive exterior of the coral reefs with our feet. I was mesmerized by the multicolored fish swimming along with us, welcoming us into their homes.
With a short squeeze I let go of his hand and turned to find myself staring into beady black eyes. This little yellow and black striped marvel had swum right into my mask. A giggle gurgled out from my belly. As I reached out to touch it, it fluttered away. Fish of all hues and designs moved past me. Some stopping for a look, some taking a nip at my exposed skin. Almost as if they wanted me to play with them. As I moved along on my own I felt a deep sense of peace wash over me. The thunderous drumming in my ear had toned down to a soothing whoosh as my breath entered and left my body. I let go of the fear and became one with the sea. In that surrender, I discovered captivating beauty. The man I'd met a few hours earlier would never know what he'd gifted me, when he held my hand through those first few moments of terror.