Photo by Hugo Kemmel on Unsplash
Where the Rocks Kiss the Sea and Calm Waves Embrace All
Standing on rocky midnight shore, the sound of the Sound beckoned his return to where he began decades ago; his wish, to bookend his life where ancient kinship first drew breath.
He intended to breathe saltwater and snuff-out all that rotten progress.
He’d just wade into the frigid current until the chill melted into warmth, freeing him of the dread of empathy among the specter of cosmic apathy.
Inhaling brine should sever the unending sinewave bouncing between two extremes.
Knee-deep within numbing, moonlit, black-reflected muck, the cold needles through, forcing his breath shallow. Waist-deep, and the current beckons him forward to rejoin infinity and nothingness.
He begins surrendering to uncompromising fate he’s chosen when far away an interrupted cry of a drowning woman breaks him from indulgence. He summons reserve to drag her back to the rocks.
“You’re welcome,” smiled the mermaid he “saved”.
***
Written for dVerse Prosery #1, hosted by Björn Rudberg (brudberg). Others have contributed to this prompt here.
Hephaestus’ Waste & Cosmic Rubble 
Close call.. For her I mean….. Nice to see some prose over here..
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Love your diction, the pernicious resolve of the central actor, and especially the twist at the end. Your flash fiction succeeds as narrative but retains so much poetry, making it a marvelous read!
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I love how he was saved by finding a purpose… to me this means so much. I could almost see two suicidal people meeting and one saving the other and thus saving himself… very good.
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I like how too saved, not only her, but him as well. When he wanted to bookend his life, he found the strength to save another’s life. Very well done Barry.
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I love the strength and vulnerability in this, Barry. Also, “the cold needles through” was wonderful.
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I think, the way I read it, the mermaid was sly… and he becomes a hero. 🙂
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