the sea is where the sky should be

gabrielle ghatt

...The day darkens, and I know what has to happen, but I want to see something first, so I go to the fishing spot.

The fish swim around cluelessly, having no idea what’s soon to happen.

I stick my hand in the water.

A little water splashes out from the sea and lands on my face. It gets in my eyes, but I don’t blink it out.

Then, in a practiced motion, I hop into the water and begin to swim. I swim up and up and up.

Deeper and deeper and deeper. The seafloor is merely an illusion. It’s a fact so pointless it would not have existed if I hadn’t mentioned it, so I swim past it.

I swim for what seems like hours. I swim for what seems like days. Water completely fills my lungs, but I’m not real, so I don’t die. Instead, I continue to swim upwards.

I swim so long that I start to wonder what might be up there. It might be heaven. It might even be the normal world.

Maybe this new world is what was at the bottom sea.

There’s not much time now.

I reach the surface.

What I thought were days of swimming I’m now sure were mere minutes instead. One-hundred twenty four seconds.

The bubble of water pops around me. My hair clings to my skin....

an excerpt

2