She gagged – retching as she doubled over, blood-stained vomit pouring out of her over the beach. Shaking, she purged again and again until all that was left were dry spasms of pain.

She grabbed at her stomach, feeling the small gobbet of fish she had swallowed throbbing, beginning to drift up inside her body: a tightness somewhere unidentifiable, like un-swallowing a cricket ball. It surged up, in short pulsing bursts, until it stuck at the back of her throat, constricting her airway and making her face glow red with pressure.

Sharp searing pain lashed deep on the insides of her throat, and pools of blood began to run down her neck and stain her collar. She gasped deeply for air, but seemed to choke on nothingness. Fainting into the waves the cool water against her neck brought sudden relief, like fresh air rushing into her lungs. The gashes on her neck fanned in the water, showing her a new way to breathe. She stared up, desperately at the distorted ripples of her old world.