Kim felt the moonlight slide over her body as she stepped out of her clothing and into the water. When the ink-black water reached her thighs, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and dove forward, long and shallow.

Scissor kicking, twisting and surfacing with a gasp, she shouted, “Damn, that’s cold!â€?

The brilliant stars above her multiplied and became glitter spilled across the water. The moon hung overhead, gilding a path across the lake back to her tiny beach fire, lit to mark her return.

A scrap of black skittered across the moon, and watching more closely, she saw shimmers of darkness erasing stars. She felt a breath of dank air whisper across her face and realized that she had an escort of bats circling overhead.

She reached briefly up to touch the bats, the stars, then startled, inhaling water, as she felt a hand close around her ankle.