It’s dark… there is not one drop of light… I can’t breath and I don’t know where I am. I feel trapped; I’m alone and scared. I can see a life preserver floating above my head. Once I see it I began to swim, but when I try to swim to it, everything becomes really slow until I stop swimming and then it goes back to normal. My surroundings are odd; I’m underwater but I can breath; it kind of looks like I am in a bottle …. that’s it! I’m in a bottle, but how did I get in a bottle? My addiction is what caused this. How could I let myself get this low? I let alcohol take over my life! I had a great life, I had a beautiful six year old, a handsome little two year old boy, and a wonderful wife. This all started after I caught my wife cheating on me and then my daughter died from cancer a year later after her mother and I divorced. All of this kinda happened at once and that’s how my addiction started.
I keep on trying to swim to the life preserver, but every time I do, everything goes into slow motion until I stop trying. I tried once more and I couldn’t make it, so I gave up and I thought I was done for.
I gave up and I was just sitting on the ground of the bottle, when I saw a silhouette of what looked like a little girl. I rubbed my eyes and she appeared more focused. She had long blonde hair and she was wearing a pretty bright blue dress. She light through the darkness and she walked into the light more and her face hit the light and I saw her bright blue eyes once more.
“Daddy…” She came up running to me and I opened my arms to give her hug.
“Emma, I have missed you so much, it’s been two years now!”
“I know daddy, but you need to get yourself together. Joey needs you daddy!”
“Emma, baby… I am trying, you died and it was my fault.”
“Daddy.  It wasn't your fault. Cancer killed me. You didn’t I love you daddy…”
“I love you too, babygirl…”
Her tiny little body began to fade away, and that’s when it hit me. I may not have my little girl anymore but I do have my son and that's who I need to be there for. I began to swim fighting ever each of the way to reach the surface, I took a big deep breath of fresh air and vowed to that day to get myself better.