I waited until Pietro had left and the sun had fallen to make my first attempt.
I felt a heavy ball in my stomach when I started to make my way to the surface. I blinked the excess water from my eyes as I surfaced, skimming around the room for anyone who may have been coming to visit. I saw no one. The ball felt heavier.
I treaded for a few more moments before taking a deep, shakey breath. I opened and closed my mouth a few times. How did one speak? How did one make noise?
I furrowed my eyebrows and started exhaling deeply.
After nothing for a few minutes, I tried to exhale while tensing my throat. A noise! "Huh," came out of my mouth.
I did not sound like that stupid cartoon duck. I sounded feminine. "Huuuuh," I smiled widely, there was a small 'bump' on my tail.
I glanced down to see the tan shape of a shark swimming around me. It gave another bump.
I sank below the water and reached out a hand to rub the small sharks nose. It had a black tipped fin, it wasn't very large though. The entire length of its body only matched to that of my torso.
I tried to speak to it, letting out a cloud of bubbles rather than noise. The shark spun in a quick circle before descending back to the sand.
I swam after it, excitement writhing like a snake in my stomach rather than the rock it had been before. I couldn't wait to show Pietro.