Gemotions

“We’re switching you to the backstroke, Maya.” The swim coach’s words echoed in Maya’s ears. All her life, she had been a freestyler, the anchor, the queen of speed and power. Now, she was being asked to flip onto her back and swim in the opposite direction. She blinked, the bright pool lights blurring.

She stared at the wall, her usual point of triumph now a distant, unseen destination. She felt a knot in her stomach. The water felt different, somehow alien against her skin. The other swimmers seemed to be swimming in slow motion. She struggled to keep her bearings, the familiar rhythm of her strokes lost in the unfamiliarity of the backstroke.