Drowning In The Sea Of Misery

It was a cold foggy day. Cold enough for Ash to see his own breath escape in clouds of white mist each time he exhaled.  Wet branches were breaking under his steps, and he knew he was searching for something in this forest, even if he had no idea what or why. He was walking, and then he was running. A chorus of crows was rising.

It was a warm sunny day. Warm enough for Ash to feel lightness in his heart each time he exhaled. Tall grass brushed softly against his legs, an expanse of green waves stretching around him in every direction. And the flowers. So many colors, shapes, all converging into rainbow horizon lines, all leading to the same figure that stood there, waiting. He stepped forward.

It was a woman he had never met, and a friend that he would never forget. Time and distance changed them, stole away their childish faces, but he could see where she kept her smile and her bright emerald eyes. Leia. A girl he once knew, different, but familiar beyond all doubt. She ran when he called her name.

It was a dark stormy day. Dark enough for Ash’s breath to catch when he saw Leia at the edge of the cliff, white dress perfectly outlined against the raging skies. The ocean roared somewhere below. And the second her feet left the ground, he staggered, shocked, in pain, paralyzed. Then, he was throwing himself after her.

The darkness of the ocean was deeper, older. Leia was sinking somewhere below him, not even trying to fight the clawing currents, but he swam after her, down, down, down. Slow. In the depths, the white of her dress became dark water.

He had to turn back. He lost her! But he had to turn back. He could not breathe. And when something grabbed his ankle to pull him down, he could not escape. He could not fight. The distant surface was gone now. He would become dark water too, an echo of a man called Ash.

At least he had a lamp. His bedside lamp, with filigreed edges and weathered shade. It was dark and cold, and he was sinking, but at least he would be able to see when he reached the bottom. He only had to reach out and—

Ash had no idea what kind of day it was when he woke up. Even less so when he rolled on his side and off the bed, falling to the floor with a heavy thud. He felt delirious. Sea water was coming out of his mouth with rough rugged coughs. And when he finally looked up, he saw that the furniture was levitating, dancing through the air as if he was still underwater.

For a moment, he could only stare. Then, as if broken out of a stupor, the gravity rushed back in, and everything fell down with clamor.