my reemergence felt like an explosion. suddenly, i could hear again, and breathe again. light burst into my salted, stinging eyes. i struggled to reorient myself as quickly as i could. i planted a palm into the soupy white sand. i gasped for air, suddenly aware that i had been deprived of it while i was under. my eyes searched wildly for my family. surely they had seen what had happened. surely they would come and help him. i almost caught a glimpse of them, sitting on their faraway hill, when the froth beneath me began to draw me backwards again. i looked towards the sea instead, and saw it gathering itself again into a high black wall.
when it collapsed upon me, more violent this time, i felt myself spun about so much that i couldn't tell up from down. my mouth open, i swallowed the sea, and felt my nostrils burning as they too helplessly imbibed water. my eyes too were open, squinting through the salt and the churn.
there was a moment when the tossed up sand and frothing water seemed to dissipate and clear away. in that brief moment, i glimpsed it: the city under the waves. i saw the sandy floor of the ocean drop precipitously, and beyond, in the distance, beneath a shifting ceiling, i saw a series of glittering spires. despite my situation, i reached out a hand to it. it was so perfect and shimmering, that it seemed but a toy. but the city was indeed well beyond my reach.
it was at that point that i heard the voice. it was sibilant, like the whisperings of a snake, but it had enough form and shape for me to discern the words in them. "sink," it murmured. "sink, and then you will float."
i couldn't tell if the words were a command, or advice, or a warning. i couldn't see who spoke them. they seemed to come from all around me, as though the entire ocean vibrated their message to me.
it was just then that i felt an insistent tugging. it was coming from my right wrist. something pulled me, hard, practically yanked. i felt each joint, like a link in a chain, dragging each successive part of my body. suddenly, my head emerged from the water, and again, the world seemed an explosion of light and sound.
"get up, runt!"
it was my brother's voice.
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