“More weight?” Caddie complained as Brian snapped the weight pouch into place. “This crap already weighs half a ton.”

“Don’t worry,” Brian said. “You won’t feel it in the water.”

Caddie was beginning to think that learning to dive was a big mistake. She was hot and sweaty. The hood seemed to surround her like a giant hand, and she suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe. As Brian slid the second pouch into the other side of her BC, she closed her eyes and tried to breathe. Brian, oblivious to her rising discomfort, began to put on his own gear.

I don’t want to do this, Caddie thought as she waited for Brian. I want to take it all off. She was just about to tell Brian as much when, snapping the last of his weight pouches in place, he said, “Ready?”

Caddie nodded. Brian handed her a mask, some gloves, and a pair of fins, which she held in her hand as they walked across the grassy area to the beach. With each step Caddie grew more and more miserable, and when they finally reached the beach after traversing a short flight of stairs, she sat down on the nearest rock to catch her breath.

“Put your mask and fins on here,” Brian instructed her as he slipped his gloves on and got ready. “I’ll help you in.”

Caddie pulled on the first glove. Her fingers felt thick and useless, which they indeed proved to be when she tried to pull the second glove on. Determined not to ask Brian for help, she grabbed the end with her teeth and pulled, inching the material over her hand until it was on. I feel like I have paws, she thought, looking at her hands, now twice their normal size.

“Coming?” Brian asked her. He was standing a dozen feet from her. His mask was on his face, and he was holding his fins.

Caddie, annoyed at the impatient tone of his question, ignored him as she pulled the mask strap over her head and adjusted the mask on her face. With the mask over her nose, the suffocating feeling intensified, but she fought it down, breathing through her mouth. “Ready,” she said, standing up and joining Brian.

They walked together to the edge of the water. The ocean was calm and flat, and only the smallest of waves lapped at the sand. When the first one washed over her foot, Caddie tensed for the cold. When none came, she realized that what Brian had said about the wet suit was true. It wasn’t at all cold.

“Lean on me and put your fins on,” Brian told her.