SALT.
Salt.
It’s all I can see,
Smell,
Feel,
Taste.
It clings to my body,
Every inch of my skin,
I am drowning.
We are miles from shore.
The waves loom—
Ten feet tall and building.
I cling to the remnants of our boat,
Now surrendered to the ocean’s icy grip.
Salt.
It burns in my lungs now.
The cold pull of a deep, unshakable calm gathers at the edges of my mind.
Am I here?
Or there?
My fingers slip,
And the salt is all around.
I claw for the surface,
But the light is fading.
Is this the end?
A single thought cuts through the darkness.
Not yet.