A metaphor, a mermaid, and a woman

She is radiant and elusive. The mystery surrounding
her is magical, and it shines through the weary rays of the water, glistening. She feels solitary yet curious, but stays hidden away in the depths, the vastness~a false sense of safety, only ever giving people glimpses of her. There is something about her...Oh what it would be like to be free, to float among the reflection of stars in the moonlit night, to know the secrets of water, the moon, the tide, the earth, stars and the creatures around her. However, she is changing and emerging from a long anticipated metamorphosis. She cannot stay where she is, she has outgrown her present state of being.
She is nearing the surface, she can see the sun penetrating the water, beckoning to her, embracing her, lifting her, with every wave pushing her up,  no longer able to sustain the life she once had in the safety of the sea. Caught in a vortex, deprived of oxygen, the urgency to get to the surface is mounting. She can no longer stay where she is at. She's afraid, fearful, a different fear than the ones that have grappled with her soul for so long, she doesn't know what to expect...but she is there, just inches from the edge, just moments from change. She tries to swim back but knows she is dying slowly, and her heart will stop beating. She is frantic. How can she let go of the life she knows? It's inevitable, she can no longer deny it. She wants this, but she is apprehensive and her time in the world she knew is running dim. She is forced to swim to the surface and break through the permeable oasis into a new world. Faster and faster she swims, her lungs are empty, collapsing in on themselves until the urgency to concede defeats her fears.
In her moment of acquiescence she breaks the barrier, her lungs expand to near bursting, she gasps and moans long deep breathes which fill her lungs and expand her stomach. She cries out, she feels the warm rays on her face and the water trickle from her hair to her lips and she can taste the salty air, feel the breeze on her skin. It sends shivers down her spine. It feels good, she feels alive and vibrant, letting go of anything which no longer serves her. She floats along the current of waves, naked, changed, secure in the moment, and free from the confines of her past as she emerges from the depths of the sea. ©J.M.Dare
Special thank you to Rudy Vogel for his "Mermaid becomes Woman" photo.

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