Many times I Dive, Maybe just one more... (Open)

I can hold my breath for an extremely long time, so I don't get scuba equipment unless we go actually hunting underwater. That's okay with me, because I know when I'm running out of oxygen, but but with a mask, and breathing equiptment, I don't ever know if the air will come undone, and it makes me feel claustophobic. Besides, without all the equiptment on me, I can get into places no one else can.

I emerge from the water, spraying it in all directions. I spit the water out of my mouth in a crystal stream, and inhale a lungfull of clear air. The air out at sea is the only clean air in this district. District four always smells of fish. I would get used to it, if it weren't for the clean air I breath when I work. I'm treading water, and waiting for the boat to come around. This time, I've got a large haul of clams, and mussels. I grasp the bag like it was my life. When I think about it, it is. It's my pay check, which pays to buy food, which keeps me alive.

The large boat steams up beside me, threatening to wash me farther away in it's wake. I grab onto the ladder that is lowered into the water, and climb up. I watch my feet and hands as I lift myself up on deck. A towel is quickly given me, and the bag, taken from my hand. I head to my friend at the stearn.

We begin to head back home.

I reach my friend and ask, "So, how many bags did you get today?"