Tsunami

The waves crash against the sand and the blazing haze looks forcefully down upon the hustling coastline. The sun is as indefatigable and untiring as a boxer staring mercilessly down at his prey. The excited and joyous cries of children fill the blisteringly humid air to the disappointment of the parents whom frustratingly recoil in an attempt to find peace. I look to the horizon and then look to the side to see the sight that I’ve seen a million times… The sight of the rocks just a way out to the shore as I sit on the sand with my legs firmly crossed. I watch as the gulls fly above the bustling town and as the palm trees stand calmly, I sketch every detail between the beautiful beach and the shimmering horizon. I turn my head to study the street market in all its glory and chaos with the sellers expertly hassling the tourists until they eventually copped out a note for the cheap imported goods. As I look round to the sea again I notice that the tide has restricted itself back incredibly to a distance away from the beach. The surfers and fisherman all look at each other in a discrete daze.

I curse as I try to remember the view of the close tide amongst the drama on the beach. I look down at my sketch, half-finished and I once again continue hastily using my memory of how it looked just a few minutes ago. It was surprising though how quickly the tide had shrunk back at a shocking pace. At this stage I was so engaged in the sketch that I almost did not here the screams and shouts of the tourists who ran from the beach at a bewildering speed.

I look up… Confused… Perplexed… I look out to the horizon… Except… There isn’t one? The wave eyes the beach down as it approaches and creates nothing, but a churning gut instinct to run and so I do. I run with all the adrenaline in my mind, all the tendons in my legs, all the blood in my heart and all the breath in my lungs… I manically sprint not looking back. The town was loud before, but now the chaos was beyond belief. I try not to look back… I really did… But I couldn’t… I turn and as I do it engulfs me…

I struggle and twist as the wave pulls and shakes me in directions I couldn’t imagine. Metal, wood and rocks launch themselves at me from all directions. I have a split second above the water and just as I gasp for breath I am once again pulled down by the impossible current as it tears at my limbs and my body as I turn sharply into the smashed remains of a destroyed pharmacy. I’m blind and deaf as my firmly closed eyes are smashed back into my skull by aggregate and splintered wood. As my head smashes against the sharp rock I know it is over… My battered and concaved skull give way and I fall into a state of weariness. All stress melts away as my battered carcass floats away with the rest of the town.