The Last of the Deaths

The smell was perfect; salty and calming. The ocean stretched out before me, washing up to my feet. God... it was so tempting. I'd never felt worth anything.. but the ocean changed that. Everything that touched its salty water, dove into it's reckless waves, or lied in the land surrounding it, had made a difference.

I stepped forward, letting the cold water brush past my knees. I shivered slightly, and wrapped my arms around my body, trying to warm myself. The moonlight rippled over the frothy waves, dancing around the ocean's surface.

I waded further into the sea, until the ocean reached my torso. When waves passed around me, the water swelled up to my breasts, chilling me, then flowed past me onto the sand. A salty tear flowed from my eye, dripping into the sea, adding sadness and desperation to the water surrounding me.

I began lowering myself to my knees. The water climbed up to my shoulders, giving me goosebumps. I felt my knees hit the soaked sand in the water, grains of sand pressing into my skin. My calves and feet bobbed slowly in the water, gently moving with the waves. My hair floated across the surface of the water like algae, breaking the moons reflecting that coated the water.

I released my hands from around my arms, and let the water pool over them, making the tips of my fingers go numb with the frigid water. A second tear slipped from my eye, dripped off my chin, fell quickly through the salty air and landed in the sea. I closed my eyes, and took a shaky breath.

As I let the water's surface tension break from climbing up my neck, tears began flowing evenly from both eyes. The water clawed up my hair, cheeks and ears. Finally, only my eyes, nose and forehead were dry. I took a quick glance up at the moon, the last light I would ever see, and submerged my head.

The water was frigid, making my body shiver violently. My eyes were closed since I knew there would be nothing worth looking at in the black ocean. My head started throbbing with pain from the icy water. I squeezed my eyes shut, and waited.

Finally, I felt myself beginning to slip away. To make sure I wouldn't bob to the surface, I buried my arms up to my elbows deep into the sand. My entire body went numb, and yellow lights began dancing inside my eyelids. I resisted the urge to inhale as long as I could, and then I gave in.

I sucked the salty water back my throat and into my lungs. My body screamed for air, anything with oxygen in it.

I felt my eyes roll back into my head, and I started feeling weightless. I wasn't cold anymore, but I wasn't warm. I wasn't in the water.

I mouthed "Goodbye..." to everything, and let myself fade into the black that quickly welcomed me.