Adrift
“I’d have nightmares of other islands stretching away from mine, infinities of islands, islands spawning islands”.- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
New horizons welcome my presence each day as my memories start to fade. Blue, crystal waters emulate a tragic tale of the circle of life. We will all eventually die and after death is where our story truly begins; as the memories of us will have new color to it, they will recover themselves in the minds of those who mourn us, yearning for our breath. No food, water and no end. She seems to stretch farther with every passing minute, yet somehow my soul feels closer to the sun.
Millions of miles away, able to observe everything at once. The stars have become my best friend now as I; adrift here on this seemingly never ending ocean. The once terrifying sound of animals swimming by as the night fell, now comforts me; as if it were to never occur I might find myself going insane from the solitude. I can almost make out the curses my stomach is shouting at me. But what can I do here, pruning in the heat of the harsh sun and salty water. In an attempt to ignore my stomach before it starts digesting itself, I focus on the sounds around me. The smallest amount of light makes its way onto the oceans reflective surface toward the east; another day has gone by.
As I am struggling to listen to the ocean over the cries of my stomach I hear a familiar sound. In fact, I think it’s one I’ve heard before. I can’t quite describe it but it seems as if there is something below the surface. It appears that my presence has interested a creature nearby. I should have expected this, at some point I would have to face death. Due to my lack of movement my muscles have begun to stiffen, so the consumption of my body should be easy; as I can not put up much of a fight. The only thing keeping me afloat in this god forsaken place, suddenly accelerates. I jump, a movement I thought I could no longer do.
My back painfully peels off of the raft as I get up to check the water beneath me. I almost screamed as I saw a large grey tail behind me, I scooted to the farthest side of my raft in shock. A shark? Dear God a shark. This is not how I wanted to spend my final hours; getting ripped apart by the one of the oceans most fearsome creatures. But it was not alone there were several others behind it, this would be a feast. My body shuddered, my nervous system kicking in as I cried. My vision clouded from the tears bursting down my face as I accepted my fate. I then began to hear clicks and whistles coming from the very creatures themselves.
I inhaled sharply, feeling relieved, I remembered that many dolphins whistle. I was proven correct as one of the dolphins emerged its head from water and seemed to smile. I thought I had gone completely insane, once I heard myself erupting with laughter. I reached my hand over the raft and rubbed its nose. I sat down once again, composing myself, watching as the dolphins that were once the rear of the raft made their way to its sides. The dolphins were now slowly propelling the raft.
A cool breeze caressed my face, making me shiver. It’d been a while since I have encountered the cold. However it feels nice compared to the blistering heat, I smirked in the sudden comfort I now felt. I didn’t quite know where they were trying to guide me, but I didn’t question it. I belonged to the dolphins now, their beautiful grey bodies shimmering in the water. I let my head sink further into the raft, perhaps I could rest here. My eyes have been burning from my constant staring at the sky, although they were reluctant to close at first they finally obeyed
. My mind began to open, showing me images of past encounters with friends, family, co-workers, the facility I was admitted in. I was so engrossed with my own remembrances, that I couldn’t climb out of the hole my mind began to dig with them. I couldn’t escape, my eyes wouldn’t open. Then, the colors began to fade, voices became mute, and silence echoed louder than ever before. My feeling of self was fading, I couldn’t even feel the raft gently moving in the ocean anymore. There was just blackness, no sight, no movement, no end; except for my own.