Cracks in the Sea Sky
Wednesday, 12 November 2008 20:22
When you’re shipwrecked and cannot die, the page of your book never turns. You live one endless day of saltwater, wind, and the veiny red behind closed eyelids. The water will not burn your tongue nor your guts, but neither will it stop the hollowing thirst. Breathe deeply and watch the flashes of fish under your wet fingers, because this is all you have.
And eventually, you realize that you can tear away the sea and sky. You see the grey void beneath the searing blue, and wisely choose to let the sky curl back into place, the sea slapping at your feet once more. “I will not remember that,” you say to the sea, and the words echo for a long time, maybe years, but maybe only seconds. It’s ok. You’ll remember again when the shadowy figures dart under your dangling feet. You’ll clutch your tattered raft and whisper, “It’s just a dream, wake up! Wake up!”
And you will. You’ll wake up to the void, the last churning of your stomach fading into incoherent particles, and you’ll turn right back to the open sea.
The sea is full of many dead things. You notice them when you cannot die.
***
Musical Inspiration: Sting‘s ”Something the Boy Said.” Sting was brilliant when he was with The Police (and in David Lynch’s Dune) but I don’t like his solo stuff. This song is an exception. It’s so creepy, while still having that pleasant Sting-y electric piano sound. Why did the people in the song die? I imagine that Roman soldiers were going into Scotland in their initial invasions, and they were eaten by a moor monster. What does a moor monster look like? Here’s one person’s rendition: http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix3/monstermoorsslade.htm.
My less reverent writing involving marsupials and mad scientists.