Leviathan

I stand on a beach of black sands, stretching to the horizon. Before me, the dark ocean overhung by grey skies. I do not know how I got here, but I do remember her. I fear I may drift away.

Another man stands in the shallows. His long hair obscures his face. He beckons to me and walks farther into the ocean. I follow. Once the water reaches our shoulders, he takes my hand and we slip beneath the surface.

The long-haired man slides through the water without effort, pulling me behind him with ease. I hear the water flow past my ears and watch the sandy bottom slip past. Suddenly, we fly over the drop-off. A blue expanse before us, a cobalt infinity below. We hurtle farther and deeper.

We glide to a stop. The surface sparkles far above. Darkness below our feet. Suspended. Enveloped. True silence. I think to brush the man’s hair away to see his face, but that is when the shape emerges in the distance. A mountain it seems, until it resolves into a megalithic bony fish.

The Leviathan brushes past us with long, languid strokes of its colossal tail, movements which belie its tremendous speed. We are sent tumbling. Yet, the man swims toward the long, craggy side flowing past, and I follow. We grab onto a boney structure and are dragged into the monster’s course.

The Leviathan dives into the deep. The rush of water threatens to tear us from its side. The light grows dim, then fades entirely as we fall into the abyss.

Out of the dark, cool lights drift toward us. Jellyfish. Countless brothers and sisters. Illuminating the jagged features of the ancient fish as they drift past. The Leviathan speeds up again. We hurtle toward a point of bright light. Flying down, down — the light grows until the Leviathan erupts through the surface below. It crashes back down, casting waves on this new ocean and floats there like an island.

I realize the man is swimming toward a shore of white sands. I leave the Leviathan and follow. People are waiting for him on the beach and embrace him once he emerges from the water. I stand in the shallows unable to go any further. And then I see her face among the celebrating crowd. She smiles at me. I fear I may drift away.