Home
All is darkness
.
.
.
Your eyes snap open
A salty sting in your eyes
And burning sun shining down on you
Water lapping at your legs
It almost tickles
But there's no time to process this
Because your chest is so tight
And you can't breathe
And then you're coughing
Great, heaving, shuddering coughs
As salty liquid spills from your mouth
In chafing bursts
And you've flipped over
Because it's the only way you can support yourself
As your lungs empty themselves
Into the hot sand
But you are so weak and exhausted
That you did not hold yourself up
And the grittiness fills your mouth
As half your face buries itself in the sand
And finally you sit up
Spitting the sand from your mouth
And look around
You see what you hadn't before
Splintered wood and battered boards
Salt lingers in your mouth
And on your softly fluttering eyelashes
As you look around
No, you haven't been shipwrecked
That happened once before
You give a great sigh
Get to your feet
steadying yourself with your hands on your knees
And resolve to rebuild
The shelter, the home, the storm blew away