Underwater (I.P.)

Where I grew up, in the countryside, near the sea, everyone was just meant to know some things,
like the safe routes about & what plants try to
grab you as you walk by. I learnt most of these things from my freinds & family, when I was little & I spoke the local accent, where all the animals were freindly if you knew how to talk to them, when most of my freinds were old people, where strange things happened everyday, so I didnt know they were strange.
One day I learnt something for myself, well you might of heard of some places, where the lakes are so deep, they have no recorded depth. Well thats where I grew up, I was told the lakes were bottomless & you could fall through them & out the other side, I never asked about what is under the water, through it, on the other side. One hot morning I went down to the stone beach to collect purple seaweed for the compost in my bagpack, one of the local cats had followed me there, so I shared my cheese out of my sandwiches with him, then we got up to go home & he ran up a different path to my usual one, it was closer & less steep & I was a curious littlun, so it was my turn to follow him.
I knew he would go back home for his dinner soon. We went through a light wood path, I knew roughly where these trees were from home, we went over a stream & under an old bridge, then we stopped by a small lake in the grass, with tree roots growing into it, the cat drank a bit & started washing, so I went to look in the water, it was clear, yet the bottom so deep it went dark. I kept looking up to check Mr Cat didnt go without me, then he ran up a tree & as I ran over to him I wobbled at the edge & my bag pulled me backward into the water.
I held my nose & fell from the sun, into the dark, I saw no creatures or plants, just water & shadow, it seemed a long time, yet I didnt lose breath, then I forgot which way was up, saw a dim light & swam up to it. There was ripples in the water around me, & I exhaled then gasped in more air, it was damp & cold, the edge of the lake was mossy & rocky, & there was a dim twilight of stars between rocks, no trees or sky just stones with starlight-holes in, I decided I must be underground & it must be niight, I heard litle voices in the dark & felt afraid, felt I was as far from home as ever.
Then I saw Mr Cat, stroll past like nothing hapened, he waited for me by a tunnel, as we climbed Ii saw sunlight, I heard bird song & toward the top breathed fresh air we came out in a woods Ii knew well, you could listen for the whisperings of home in the wind around the leaves, Mr Cat was gone, I was soaked, I got slightly told off at home, for being wet, as usual from the sea, atleast I got seaweed.
For some years after I would notice little voices in the woods & lakes & even in buildings, yet they always sank away, too fast for me to hear what they said & never am I more at home than by the sea.