When the Cold Touches My Skin | Teen Ink

When the Cold Touches My Skin

September 8, 2022
By Xuan PLATINUM, Charlottesville, Virginia
Xuan PLATINUM, Charlottesville, Virginia
21 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
Sleep more, worry less.


When the biting cold pierced through my skin and flowed to my heart along with the blood, I was awake.

One breath, I wondered about my limit. This time I finally got the chance, my team and I planned to dive in near-freezing water temperatures. I jumped into the water through the triangular cut and the ocean melted me. I started swimming, looking for the absolute balance between my arms and my legs.

I was three feet under the surface, and the ice put me a meter away from the world. The ice contained the stolen sunlight, and out of the corner of my eyes I could vaguely see what it looked like under several water levels, but it was not enough to see through the darkness emanating from the deep. The water reflected a sapphire green on the ice. I didn't have the time to appreciate it, but focused on my breathing, by showing my skills as perfectly as possible so I wouldn’t waste the oxygen I had.

Traces of cold that were desperately drilling into the boundless, every bone seemed to be brittle. Every time I moved, it felt like it was broken, and the pain was piercing. Every minute, every second was infinitely long. My heart seemed to be pressed hard and couldn't breathe. The world was dizzy and frantic. I had never been so thirsty for air and so cherished for life as I am now.

Ten seconds...twenty seconds...the breathless time slipped away from me.

The sound of my heartbeats faded the counting numbers, and I needed to control myself because panic could lead to death. I closed my eyes and felt the water flow over my body, the freedom took off the fear that suppressed me. My mind gradually emptied. The body gradually became numb and lost the opportunity to experience the cold. A shark stopped only once in its life, and that was the end of its life, sinking in the deep sea as its soul dimmed. I knew that I also had to keep going and not stop for a moment.

I began seeing light through my eyelids. I opened my eyes, and the sun shone into the ocean, and the bright rays of light echoed in the water. I struggled and slammed into the light with all my strength, the next second I felt the warmth, the sun crowned me, and the journey ended in cheers.


The author's comments:

Hello, this is Yuxuan. I am a high school senior student studying in the US, currently in Virginia.


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