Sleep swimming?

Where am I? who am I? how did I get in this water?

Am I awake? Is this a dream? Can this be real? I open my eyes to see, but they seem heavy and blurred. I struggle to focus but it is as if the harder I try the harder it becomes. As tread this dark water, and my eyes seem to adjust I realize I'm alone. My arms and legs feel like they are tired but I'm not sure. where am I? I wonder just how deep is this water. If only i could get my feet on solid ground I could rest. I have to test the depth. I slow my treading sink slowly to all I can feel is something slimy on my toes, I don't think its the bottom, I am not sure.  The water seems to be cold but not cold, its as if the chill of the water is soaking into me. I cant see anything for the fog, its so thick that even sound seems to be unable to penetrate it. The silence, it hurts my ears. What am I doing here? I feel like I am slowly awaking in the middle of a dream. Am I dreaming? Is there a reason I am here in this dark water? Did I bring myself to this, or was I placed here by another? How long have I been out here? Eternally or a day, I do not know. My arms and legs feel heavy even in this water, when I slow my treading to rest the water comes up over my Chin, I get an unwanted taste, its stale and Briney. Am I in the sea? I must continue to tread.  I think I am getting tired, the more I think about it the worst it becomes, I must not  dwell on it. I know I must tread  water or breath it.  Should I  try to swim? In what direction, how do I know? Wait, I believe I hear something? Its  so very faint I strain hard to hear it, it seems to be getting slightly louder.

I'm not sure the fog is so thick the sound seems to be coming from all directions. its the sound of water. Small waves perhaps, or maybe the sound of some one else swimming. Maybe, I am not alone out here, who could it be, are they to lost? Should I call out to them? Could it be the one that put me here? Maybe they lost track of me? did they come to show me the way to solid ground, have they come to finish the deed? Should I swim away? What if I hold where I am, and try to get a  glimpse of who, or what they are? Wait, is that something there? A silhouette, that for some reason does not seem to be human. I must strain my eyes to see it, and ears to hear it through the thick fog. then it hits me, what ever it is, what ever it is it is getting slowly closer I feel I must remain quiet and still. Its close, very close. Is that breathing I hear? Is that my breathing I hear then panic grips me. What ever, or who ever it is, it's coming this way.

WHAT WAS THAT!? Something touched me. I must force myself to swallow the fear, and realize that what ever it is swimming towards me it could not have been what just brushed my leg. My curiosity begins to devour my fear. I must know what, who, and how many others there are that share my fate out here in this lonely dark cold water. I slowly move towards whatever it is, that is moving towards me. I feel a presence, I look all around, and yet see nothing, I know, I can feel, someone, something looking at me.

I look again in the direction of the apparition. Its getting fainter now, is it moving away from me? My legs, my arms Begin to ache, the water seems to be getting colder, I must tread. something is here with me I can feel it. I look all around again, nothing. my eyes tell me there is nothing yet I know there is something, I can feel it. I turn again and there I am, face to face with what seems to be an animal of some sort. We stare at one another curiously for a moment. And, for reasons I do not know, my heart begins to thump, I can feel the fear rising up, like my heart is going to jump out of my throat and swim away. I seem on the verge of fleeing, but swallow my fear instead. What sort of animal is this,  it is just close enough that I can barely make out through the thick mist, a mask. An animal with a mask I thought, what strange place is this. I think it is a raccoon swimming in the water near me. My reason slowly subdues my fear, as the thoughts of my sore limbs begin to creep back into my head. Tread, I can not stop treading. I see that the animal is looking around its self. And just as I think about saying something to it, the animal turns and begins to swim away from me.{ep.5}

Now what do I do? I know not what brought me to this, I know not who I am or even why I am here. But, I do know I must do something. I can not simply stay here and tread water. I must get to try land and this animal must know where it is going. I have no time to waste the animal is getting fainter I can just barely see it. As I begin to slowly follow the animal, I realize the water is moving as well. A current there seems to be a current. And the waves are beginning to swell, I must pick up the pace, the animal is beginning to get away from me. My arms and legs are beginning to ache. How long have I been in this cold dark water, the chill has become more like a feeling of numbness. I swim as fast as I can trying not to break the surface of the water to much, so as not to startle the animal. I try to keep up with the animal but it seems to be getting farther away with every second. I simply can not keep up. I know, if I stop, the animal, the only thing that I have seen out here will get away from me. Again, I get the feeling something is closely buy. I stop for just a second to look behind. The swells are becoming larger. I strain my eyes hard to see, and there behind me a small dot in the swells. It appears, then disappears behind the swells. What is this thing? I turn again to look for the animal I was trying to follow to be sure that what i see is not the the same thing. I can barely make out the first animal far ahead of me and realize that something is following me as well. It seems that whatever it is it's keeping distance, but the animal I was following is getting even farther away. I can barely see it through the swells. I turn again and press on, trying to keep up. If, there is something following me then, we will both go in the direction of the animal ahead. The swells grow, the wind coming across the water is salty, even the air that I  breath, the mist, it has a briny taste. And then I realize with some panic that the salty air is making me thirst. {ep.6}

As I press on I begin to hear  something [I think], it's faint and strained. I stop once again. As soon as i do my limbs begin to ache. I think I can hear something but when I strain to hear it, I realize there is no sound, but the wind, and the water. Yet, there it is again I hear it, but there is no sound. It's like "STOP, come back". I look again towards the first animal I was following. It is gone. I strain my eyes hard to see, but the mist, and the waves have swallowed it up. Panic and desperation is beginning to breath down my neck. The water seems to be getting colder, the wind and the waves are at odds, the darkness is increasing, my arms and legs are beginning to feel like fire, and the thirst is making it's self known. A world of water yet, I know I must not drink. I then turn to look in the direction that I had come, and there, through the waves, and mist, I see the second animal. It is somewhat closer now, and again, I think I hear, "Come back, do not follow". What choice do I have? I turn, and begin to swim back in the direction I came, but slowly, trying to conserve my energy. I can see now the second animal, strange looking, and brown. As I swim towards it I see it is keeping it's distance, but leading me none the less. Where? I wonder, where is this animal leading me. 
I swim on, seemingly forever. Yet, always when I look up, there, in the distance, is the faint out line of the brown creatures head. Appearing, and then disappearing behind the waves. Even as the darkness closes in. It stays just close enough to show me the way. I swim on, knowing, that I can not stop, the burning in my limbs, and the clawing temptation to drink wont let me. Pushing on helps take my thoughts from my dire situation. It is black now. I look about me, nothing , no, less than nothing, no sound no nothing just blood chilling darkness. Is this it? Am I dead?  I can swim no farther.
If I continue on would I just be swimming in circles? Delaying the inevitable?
Float, yes, I will try to float on my back, at least until destiny reveals herself to me. So I float. Just barely keeping my face above water. Staring, with wonder of such a place, up into the blackness. Nothing here but my self, and the waves slowly rocking me to sleep, The sea having pity on me rocking me to sleep, to ease my end.
What is that I see?  I think I can see something, Points of light, faint, but yes! It is
stars, I can see the stars looking down on me. The very site of them sends a flow of warmth through my eyes, and down into my heart, and from there, out into my frozen, burning, limbs. There, what was that? Now I am sure I heard something. There it is again, the sound of birds, with out doubt I swim Hard through the darkness towards it. I can smell something it, has the smell of soil, the briny smell of a stale sea giving way to the sounds and smell of solid ground. I tell myself I must swim, and swim hard for this land. After all the stars are watching. So if i must go out, at least I can go out trying for my own element. If nothing else it will give the stars that are watching something to talk about.