first+story!!!

===My grip gave out, and I fell from the cliff I had been clinging to. In a split second, the air disappeared and freezing water took it's place. Fighting all the way, i broke the surface of the water, only to have another icy wave push my down and choke me. Water rushed down my throat when I opened my mouth to scream. It rubbed my insides raw.===

===Again, I broke the surface, knowing if I went back down I might not come back up. I fought the waves to stay afloat, but they seemed to be determined to keep my head under. Time didn't exist anymore. The only thing was seemed to be an endless battle against nature.===

===My legs kicked against the water, and my arms pushed me forward through the freezing ocean. Some instinct to survive pushed my body to keep swimming, even when my muscles burned in protest. This instinct was stronger even then my own will to keep going through the endless water maze, but it felt that if I refused, it would crush me harder than the waves would.===

===I blinked the salt from my eyes and I could see clearly. The ocean was black with fury and rain pelted from the dark grey sky, as if the rough sea wasn't enough. Thunder boomed in my ears and lightning flashed brighter than i had ever seen from the safety of my warm little home. There was no indication anywhere of where I and how far the current had taken me. Hope wasn't something I could afford. But, even though every reason to keep going disappeared, I forced my body to push through, completely blind to the direction.===

===I felt the water pull away for a moment, and I prepared myself to have to fight to keep afloat. But this time, instead of crashing over my head, it pushed me forward into something harder than water, but softer than rock. Sand. The sand from the shore. I did it. The instinct pulled forward in the right direction, toward safety. Every muscle in my body turned into pudding, refusing to go another inch as soon as my toes were free of the water. Cold, tired, and gasping for air, but I had beaten the Pacific ocean, once and for all. No longer did it hold any fear, only a sense of victory.===