Despondent

The Diver

The diver trudges tiredly along the vibrant sea floor.

Her feet are protected in metal toed shoes, a waterproof suit keeping the cold wetness of the sea from her warm skin. She looks side to side, the weight of her Cyclops-like helmet bringing hell upon her neck. The large, clumsy gloves 'round her wrists and fingers are alien. She moves in slow motion.

The diver's steps are heavy, shaking the ground and kicking up white sand. If only she could see that sand - for looking down would surely cause her tired neck to snap.

She cannot look up either, for the same fate would surely meet her.

So instead she looks ahead.

She scans her surroundings, the pressure of the ocean pushing down on her like that of her past memories... Her past encounters. She feels the water suffocate all air around her except the air inside of her helmet - precious breaths of oxygen. It begins to run thin. But thinking primarily of what little air she has left does no good.

So she looks ahead, instead.

She continues to walk along the ocean floor, stomp after stomp as her legs tire and her feel drag.

The weight of the water is almost too much to bare and as fish scatter and the far away darkness of the murky depths continue for miles on end, she wishes for death; the ocean's pressure is too much to bare.

Will a shark swim by and confine her to a bloody tomb? Or perhaps her heart will stop suddenly and lose its rhythm?

Or maybe, a crack will appear.

And so it has - the little, jagged lines before her eyes are sketched into the glass of her helmet's mask, and it taunts so hauntingly, waiting. She tilts her head, her labored breath the only thing heard besides the quiet muffle of the ocean as she stares at the crack, studying it.

It's small, but it calls to her - the jaggedness reminds her of shameless nights alone where split skin bled slowly. And as odd as it was, that urge quickly resurfaced like a beast from the water as she lifted her hand - it almost moved in slow motion.

Her alien finger, disguised by that of the glove, taps. The sound echoes only for her. She sighs, her breath hitting her face and as she continues to tap, the crack crawls a tad bit father.

She's nervous and hesitant, but her intrigue over powers. She taps again and again as the crack crawls quicker and quicker, and as more begin to appear, like smaller veins running off from a central point, she lets her tired legs give out.

She sits, alone and defeated and although there is a vibrant coral bed surrounding her she does not see in color; she sees in black and white, much like the sight of bright stars against a black sky. She doesn't recall what the sky looked like though; she's been underwater for so long, anything other than the ocean seemed obtuse... Impossible. The murky depths and pressure of the world's weight was all there was to know, and for that, she tapped.

She tapped until finally, water began seeping through. At first she was taken aback, gasping. She had been underwater but never in contact with the strange, otherworldly thing. She knew what it must feel like, but had no true idea.

She understood now though as the clear liquid continued to drip into her suit, and with large, glossy eyes, she allowed the liquid to fall from her eyes as well. This water felt different though; this water was warm. She shuts her eyes.

The diver lays on her back, hitting the sand with a thud. The cold, wet substance seeps in and drips onto her face, coming in quicker now. She hears more cracks pushing towards the brink. She knows the glass will break through soon, and the weight of the murky depths will fill her stiff lungs.

A light hits her face, and as she parts her lids, she's met with a sad sight; the surface is a mere few feet away, sunshine reflecting off the ocean's waves. If she had only looked up, she'd have seen how close she was to the surface - to air.

But she hadn't, and the glass began to crack even more. She felt water encapsulating her. She felt cold. She accepted the fate as the depths rushed in.

And as her lungs filled and suffocation took her, the astronaut in the stars felt his oxygen suddenly run low.