Writing Championships #4

Amber Antags

Prompt: Sand stung their skin

Ouch.

Xisuma's pickaxe swung again, and his arm jolted with the impact. Holy Notch, prismarine was solid! The soft exterior was only an illusion, it seemed.

Maybe committing to this project was too tiring? But Xisuma never gave up, not even when it came to the most sensitive and difficult thing– Ex, his brother that he'd banished.

Xisuma wouldn't give up on just a little base, would he? No, he wouldn't. And he'd make more and more and more to take his mind off the things that plagued him at night as he slept.

Placing sand, breaking through prismarine walls. Placing outlines and filling the water in. It was the same procedure every day.

Until it wasn't.

He swung his pickaxe again, hard. Maybe a little too hard, because as his pickaxe arced downwards, the prismarine– and the sand next to him– fell.

The floor had disappeared under him and he was swallowed by the ocean.

Something which felt like stone had collapsed around Xisuma and sand had followed. Sand was getting everywhere. Into his armor, his skin.

He couldn't move any of the stone, or whatever it really was, and felt pain whenever he did so. It was way too heavy with his condition. He couldn't even move to a state to try and break out of it.

His vision was blurred, but he could see still see the surface. He wasn't sure how far it was

The bubbles floated to the surface, reminding him that he couldn't.

X wasn't sure if it was water or panic rising in his chest.

Sand stung into his skin. He hated it. It was itchy. He couldn't get it off. He couldn't move his arms.

Fish swam happily, oblivious, free.

X thrashed against the heavy stone crushing his chest and his lungs, but it wouldn't budge.

He wouldn't move, it wouldn't move, it wouldn't move, he couldn't get out-

He tried to inhale, but all he could taste was salt, and it filled up his head. Everything blared with pain.

Tears joined with the ocean as he continued to struggle to no avail.

Would he die here?

He tried to scream, but nobody could hear him. The ocean muted his cries. It stayed calm, serene. Light streamed from the sun through the still water.

  Please, don't let me die here, he pleaded, for anything, some universe, some god, to hear him. Don't let me die. I don't want to die like this.

Please

His head felt like it was about to explode as he watched the blue swirl and glimmer.

Please.

His eyes stung too, sand cut like knives, engrained in his skin.

Xisuma's vision began to dim, turning the dark ocean around him even darker. How far had he sunk already? His lungs hurt. Or maybe his head? Or his whole body. He was so disoriented that he couldn't tell anymore. All he knew was that he was in pain.

How long had he been stuck there? Xisuma was beginning to think it had been far too long. The sand was heavy, weighing down on him and just doubling the suffocating feeling.

A sharp pain stabbed through his chest, a stark contrast to the dull, aching effect of the suffocation.

He had run out of air.

The brief, agonizing pain returned for a second, before fading. Return. Fade. It repeated until Xisuma realized he was almost out of health.

Shit.

As his consciousness faded out, the pain began to as well, each lash of agony feeling farther and farther away.

In his last few moments before nothingness, Xisuma thought he could see a flash of white, red, and a familiar face. A blurry image of his brother. What was Ex doing here? His face was passive, emotionless.

Was this karma for what Xisuma had done to him? Was this Xisuma paying for how he'd treated his brother, paying with his own death?

"I-" Xisuma croaked. He was surprised he could even speak in this almost-dead state. His voice was muffled by water and his hearing was close to non-existent. "I'm sorry, Ex."

Why did he do that? Why didn't he spend more time? He wished he had spent more time with his brother.

"I love you." he mouthed, trying to grasp, trying to get one last thing out, to tell his brother what he always wanted to say, to fill the space that was never filled.

Even more tears. It was guilt crushing his chest. The stone was nothing compared to it. He tried to reach out for his brother, but he faded away with the ocean.

I'm sorry.

Darkness engulfed him just as the ocean had done.

Score: 9.5