The Ocean’s City

There was a gushing roar and chaotic shouting and commotion outside the tent. That wasn’t what woke me, though. Heavy raindrops were soaking through the tent and falling smack dab on my face, causing me to stir suddenly. There was a lot of commotion that was too difficult to distinguish what was going on.

“Get Silvestia!” Dalton’s familiar voice demanded from far away. It was almost indescribable over the roar.

What the hell was that sound? It sounded odd and foreign yet somehow familiar, like once I saw what it was, I could place the sound on the object.

Panicked footsteps ran to my tent, and the flap frantically flew open to reveal Fran’s pasty, delicate hand reaching out to me. The expression on her face told me we had no time to react.

“Let’s go!” She half pleaded, half demanded. I took her hand and allowed her to pull me to my feet and out of the tent.

Outside, the tent provided little explanation. Men with armfuls of things were untying their horses and rushing off. Jones pathetically gimped about, shouting incoherently to Fran. One man nearly ran us over as he took off on his horse at full speed. My eyes followed his intended destination, and I saw Dalton sprinting back to us at full speed. He was shouting, but I didn’t take the time to hear what he was saying. The roar had gotten louder.

Fran impatiently yanked my arm to move. For a moment, everything felt still as I noted the millions of stars. A breathtaking sight that I wished I had time to enjoy. Fran ushered me to where Jones was. The horse had not been saddled but had reigned. He was trying to keep the horse in place, holding the reins in one arm while slightly bending his knee and offering his other hand for guidance.

“Get on!” He demanded. The pain his body was in was the last thing on his mind.

I could sense the urgency, but I panicked to blindly trust Jones and leap onto a horse that was ready to bolt at any moment.

“Fran, you get in first, then!”

Fran let go of my hand and did as she was told. I turned my head to where Dalton was running from. I couldn’t hear what he was saying but saw his lips move. Silvestia run

But I didn’t run. I didn’t have time to. It was too late. My eyes caught sight of a massive raging brown gunk that wasn’t there then, with a blink of an eye, was there. I realized that’s how fast it was moving and understood there wasn’t any time.

Fran was finally on the horse, reaching for my hand. Jones shouted and urgently flung himself towards me, trying to catch my arm. I looked down at the sand on the floor, realizing where we were camped. A river bed. When I raised my head, I only had time to see Jones’s desperate expression before we were swept into the raging water.

I tried opening my eyes in the water, but it was murky and dark. The water was tumbling into me with the strength of the ocean waves. I felt Jones’ grasp on my arm torn away through the torrent of water. Flashbacks of when I was a child running unknowingly into the sea come to mind. The distinctive memory of Dannie teaching me what to do when the waves took me under ever again. I let my body go with the flow. Then, when I felt the right moment, I pushed up for air.

The raging water was loud. Dalton shouted for me; the moon was full, showing nothing was close to hanging on to. Then I was taken back under again. I repeated the process, going with the raging water, pushing up for breath, but as I opened my mouth for air, water was being pushed into my lungs, and I was sucked back under. Not before I saw the forest-like trees, cover the moonlight.

This time, as I was sucked under, I was determined to grab onto one of those trees. As I followed the current and forced myself up, I wasn’t thinking about air but about holding onto a tree, a branch, or something. I instantly grabbed onto the first thing my eyes caught sight of. My fingers wrapped around the thin, twig-like branch. The water immediately took me back under, and the branch came with me.

My lungs urgently needed air, and I didn’t follow the current flow. I forced myself up, struggling to get enough air to repeat the process. My mind focused on getting enough air in order not to drown.

I forced myself up and took the deepest breath I could. My eyes shot open, forcing them to focus through the dripping water in my eyes, blurring my vision. I could see a sturdy tree right in my path. The water moved me under again, and this time, I pushed up, grabbed the tree, and caught my breath.

There were no sounds other than the raging water forcing itself through the trees like nothing but wind. I tried to search around, but the trees made the environment significantly darker. I went to scream, but before I could, one of the poles used to make one of our tents lodge through the water. I lifted my hand to protect my face. With enough force, my grip on the tree slipped. Then, the fabric still tied to the pole wrapped around me and took me back through the current.

I went down for one second, and then as I bobbed back up, my head hit something hard. Water forced its way through my lungs, and everything went black.

…

The crickets chirped a steady beat, followed by the croak of the frogs and a hoot of an owl every once in a while. It was a soothing sound. The pinching headache I had, however, was not benign. I opened my eyes to see I was leaning on a fallen tree perched slanted on another tree. I was lying in shallow water that went to my rips.

My heartbeat picked up as I took in my scenery. Damp, dark, and unknown. Far from the desert I was in before. On the left side of me, there was a large splash of water. I turned my head to see movement in the water. Unsure of what it was but allowing my mind to come up with a million explanations, I quickly stood and perched myself on the log.

I squinted my eyes, and as it moved into the moonlight, I could tell it was a good 8-foot-sized alligator. Fuck me. My heart dropped. I knew I was no longer in the desert and doubted I would ever be again because I was in a new reality. Only now, I worried whose reality this was.