Life in a minute

Immersed in the ocean's engulfing heart, her mind went blank, her body both half numb and half stretched, her heart pounding out of her chest. The night brought bone-chilling cold, and the scorching day had sun threatening to split her skull open. Should she attempt to swim? Sharks haunted her thoughts; she was never a swimmer, a knot of anxiety twisted in her stomach--how could she navigate the perilous waters without a life jacket? Staying put carried its own risks; a lurking shark might still find her, or she could succumb to weariness, surrendering to the ocean's depths. Should she wait for rescue from a passing airplane or a ship on the horizon? Or, against all odds, should she brave the waters, even though the shore seemed an impossibly distant destination?

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