On Loch swimming

Highland Scotland, Summer 25

Submerge. Swim with hands outstretched in the black like swimming through the night. Unknowable depths above and below. Break the surface as two worlds are mirrored just for a moment.

I try to be silent, to hear silence but my cold, tread-water breath breaks it.

Yellow arms leading to hands and fingers are the only measure of distance. Limbs dyed golden-rich peaty brown. Watch my hands move away from my body, spreading the water and gliding me along. Fingertips meet and depart leaving a highlighted wake.

This is the moment of connection between my body and the water, my mind and my body. This is when I feel alive.