Structure

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Beginning

The short story begins in medias res, in the middle of events, with a backstory on the protagonist: she sometimes submerges her head in her bath and tries to make the scars on her neck open. However, nothing happens: “Sometimes in the bath I plunge my head under the water and will the scars on my neck to open wide like mouths. Nothing.” (ll. 1-2).

Here, the narrator hints at another backstory about the scars on her neck. However, their presence remains unexplained. The paragraph also implies that the she believes she has gills. This could also be considered a foreshadowing element for the narrator’s other strange features, which are revealed throughout the story.

As the exposition continues, the narrator further reveals that, unlike in the bath, she can sit for a long time submerged in the water …

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Middle

In the rising action, the narrator is in the pool with Martin, and she asks him if he will come to watch her swim in the semi-finals. The narrator indicates that Martin wants to be a lifeguard and own a store. He currently runs one on eBay, and he is busy all the time (ll. 45-47). This provides a backstory on Martin and is also a foreshadowing element for him not showing up on the day of the semi-finals.

Another backstory tells us that the narrator wears a scarf to hide the scars of on her neck and that her mother makes her wear waterproof foundation (ll. 49-51).

The narrator recalls a recurring dream in which she is swimming in the ocean alongside dark creatures. This foreshadows her swimming…

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Ending

In the falling action, the narrator surfaces and realises that the creatures she is looking for are further out into the ocean: “I’m further out than I thought, and I know that the things from my dream are further out still. Beyond the bay and further, further. I’d have to swim for days to get there.” (ll. 158-160).

She returns to Martin, and they kiss – the narrator wonders if he can feel that she has changed: “He kisses me for a while and I wonder if he can taste the things that are different about me. The changedness. The sea in me.” (ll. 164-165). Th…

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