Wiggles

It was one of those weeks when it seemed all the shit hit all at once. Got a parking ticket, sister had a messy breakup, dropped my phone into a boiling pot of pasta, my professor said we needed to “talk” about my thesis, and there wasn't money in the budget for groceries. Thus I had no additional anxiety to spare for this new babysitting client.

The parents were perfectly pleasant, probably too trusting. Said if the girls wanted to visit the ocean, I could take them. I wouldn’t let someone I just met take the kids out of the house. But I kept my mouth shut. I was too numb to care.

Ki-shi-ko! Ki-shi-ko! The twins chanted my name as they skipped ahead. They liked how it sounded. These girls were sweet. I wished I didn’t feel like I was drowning. I could barely engage. Reduced to trailing behind and passively watching.

The wharf! The wharf! Mr. Wiggles! We had been walking along the shore and when the twins saw the pier they broke into a run. I picked up my pace. Be careful! I wondered what they meant. Probably a seal that frequented the pier.

Mr. Wiggles! Mr. Wiggles! We brought a friend! They jumped up and down at the end of the wharf waving their hands in the air. My gaze drifted out to the fog-covered bay. It looked like my brain felt. I glanced back over at the twins and fear jolted through me. They were climbing over the edge of the pier. Stop! I was sprinting. They disappeared from view. Don’t! The water is freezing!

Come on, Kishiko! Mr. Wiggles is waiting! The girls beckon to me from an inexplicably dry seabed. Relieved, I climb down to them. Who is Mr. Wiggles, I ask. They giggle.

IT. IS. I.

My gaze is dragged back to the bay. All the ocean water has gathered and thrusts into the sky. The seas separate into threads and weave together into a monolithic, graven visage. What seem like eyes bore into mine. I feel tears on my cheeks, but what I wipe away is grey and viscous. Ki-shi-ko. I think I have forgotten how to breathe. Ki-shi-ko. My vision is dissolví̸̡̩̱͎̠̺͜͝ň̴̡͍͎̩̹̯̖͕g̶̦̳̙͔͙͂̌̾̈́̉̚͝.̷̤͙̳͔͓̲̘̣̤́ ̵̩̈́K̶̥͇̖̬̺̟̦̃̾͑́į̴̯̹̞̩̮̓̉̑͒̐̎̎ͅ-̷̢̥̞̫͎̾̀̓͊̔̇͆̚̕͜s̷̖̬̲̿̎̑̓̄ḩ̸̃͆ḭ̶̗̝͖̠͍̑͆̂̄̐̌-̶͙͎́̎̂̎̃͊̊̑̈k̸͈̯͍͙͈̼̻̎̎́̑̂͑͜ö̶̥͉̖̖͖̃