I had always known I was different.
Normal kids don’t become ridiculously happy when they swim, no matter if the day’s practice is hard or not. Normal kids can’t open their eyes underwater, in pools, lakes, and oceans. Normal kids don’t calm down every time they enter the water. Most of all, though, normal kids can’t breathe underwater.
When I was a kid, my dad always joked that the water was my “safe space”, that all my ills were cured by it. Whenever I was angry or sad, he told me to go take a shower, which somehow always helped.
I should’ve connected the dots. My obsession with water. My love for marine biology.