Julia loved July. Her family's summer cottage sat isolated within the mouth of a bay. The waters of this deceptively large bay became her escape, and her home away from home that July. She always felt at peace, whether it be gliding her toes along the surface of the still water as she sat at the end of the warm sun soaked dock, sipping an iced tea as she strolled through the shallows along the sandy banks, or just floated still while absorbing the sun's heat as the water near shore had.

Her heart wouldn't race out there in the bay. Her mind could forget so easily the troubles of being a 16 year old girl. Her favorite thing to do would be to jump off the end of the dock, which extended perfectly out to a depth where she could still stand if she chose. Her feet could reach the smooth small pebbles, curiously scattered at the bottom, and only reached as far as the end of that dock; almost as a guide as to where the bay's drop off into deeper depths would begin. She would jump, and rise to the surface only to relax and lay still, as if time had stopped, letting all air from her lungs slowly escape in a deep meditative exhale. Slowly submerging, she would sink, drift softly, and effortlessly deeper and deeper until she could feel the smooth surface of those interesting pebbles. She would open her eyes, slowly with no hesitation, and examine the sunlight as it pierced through the surface and illuminated the waters around her. She loved that sunlight. The way it faded through the water, reaching to the pebbles, and herself. It brought joy to her young mind, it was simply pure serenity. She would bend her knees and push herself back to the surface, extending her arms in a freeing fashion as they would break surface into the warm summer air. She always felt free in the water. July was a great time in her adolescent life.

The winter months however weren't as favorable for Julia. The sunlight didn't shine very well through the 5 inches of ice settled on top of the bay's water, nor was it as pleasurable 30 feet below the surface.