Night in Black

 There I was, wading in the warm saline waters which came midthigh. I submerged myself into their inviting warm embrace and let the waves lap gently over my head. I tried to collect my thoughts but it was of no use. The gentle caress of the waves lulled me to sleep. It was comfortable, and I was worn and fatigued. I broke the surface suddenly and inhaled sharply, gasping for breath.

 I knew not where I was or how I landed there. I only knew that these waters were my only friends in this wide, empty world. They soothed me, my pain, and if I hadn’t broken contact, they would have eased the pain forever.

 What the pain was, I do not know. But I knew I had lost something or someone, and I did not succumb to the enticing deep sleep because I was still searching. Searching for that lost someone or something in the wide empty world to fill the emptiness inside.

  I dragged myself away from the water, where the seashells gave way under my feet. They were hard and crumbly, but the ground softened into finer sand which cooled my warm, burning feet. The cool was not welcome everywhere though. A chilly breeze whipped at my face; the biting cold, a stark contrast to the warm ocean.

 I looked around for any sign of life; none. I was alone on a godforsaken beach. I tried to take in my surroundings, but all I saw was nature’s breathtaking painting. It was dull. It was grey. It was beautiful. The pitch black moonless sky blended into an even blacker sea, with a sprinkle of dimly lit stars on that thick blanket which wraps all the emptiness in its shroud. To offset the blackness, the white foam of an occasional wave gave competition to the few white stars as they broke upon the shore. The sand was shades of grey, and I watched as the black waters crept up slowly, covering the grayness bit by bit.

 Suddenly, I felt fear. The fear of losing. Losing to the blackness of death. Just as the sand which I stood on, my strength, was losing itself to the black waters. The water was not my friend anymore. It was a backstabber that devoured my support, my strength, the sand. Fear lapped the shores of my mind as I watched the helpless shore disappear into the blackness.

 Blackness was all I remember. Blackness was all I could see. I raised my hand to my throbbing head and felt…blood. That is when I collapsed on the sand. The wound had taken its toll. Amnesia deepened into eternal sleep. I was unconscious when my friend, death, crept up the shore and washed my lifeless body back into the depths of the warm, saline waters.