Azure by Beth Stafford (the beginning after the end read novel txt) 📕

Blue. All I can see is blue. My vision is dominated by the sweeping, cerulean canvas of the sky, smudged with sweeping strokes of wispy cloud. In the horizon, the first hints of dusk show, making the pristine azure sky blush with crimson flame. I try to move, but I feel as though I'm being held down by unseen hands, pinning me to the ground. I drink in a hungry gasp of breath, but my throat feels raw. A soft rattle issues from my lips as I exhale, as though my lungs are filled with tiny stones. My memory is pulling me away from this place, into the deep recesses of my mind. Where am I? How did I get here?

I can faintly recall the sensation of waves crashing against my toes like watery kisses, of wading deeper into the sea until my feet were being lifted from the submerged shore. Soon the ocean had full control, tugging me further and further out, consuming me in its embrace. And yet I hadn't struggled; I'd given into it willingly, given into the feeling of being taken somewhere. I can remember gazing back at the beach, the beach which seemed so far away, so unattainable. The towering spruces that choked the hills around the coast were now an indistinguishable blur of green in the distance, like moss upon a stone.
The brutal force of an unexpected wave pushed me under the surface and held me there, dragging me along with it as it surged towards shore. I plunged further down still, until I could feel the press of sea shells gouging into the small of my back. Each time a wave passed overhead, I was swept along again, my ears filled with the rushing crackle of air bubbles.

It didn't take long for the burning to begin; at first it was just a subtle discomfort in the pit of my chest, a little niggling for air. It was easy enough to ignore, but it soon becomes more persistent, insistent. My lungs felt as though they'd been lit alight from the inside, and were slowly being eaten away by a raging inferno. My body was screaming for oxygen, and I couldn't resist the urge to open my mouth and inhale deeply. The rush of water into my lungs only served to inflame the fire even more. And then, I succumbed.

I'm becoming aware of the sounds around me now, but they still seem so muffled. I'm being rolled onto my side, a large, forceful palm slapped against my spine. A lungful of seawater gurgles from my mouth, and finally I can breathe without pain. The crystalline sky above begins to focus; I can see faces around me, swimming in the haze of my vision. One of the faces is leaning very close to my own, its cavernous mouth working with frantic words. I'm being lifted up into the air, my lank body too weak to resist. As I fade away into the realm of unconsciousness, I'm starkly aware of two words spoken: she's alive.

Publication Date: 06-07-2012

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