Author: I.W.Ray

Lullabies are for the air
Poets are of water
Remember this well
Do not mistake one for the other

And then my dream state abandoned me to have me face my cruel fate. I was doing repairs on my spaceship and then a freak anomaly hit me. And now I’m in water without boundaries. There was no light but there was life. I traveled for miles, trying to find the surface. I would have been ecstatic if I could see the ocean floor if only so I can know up or down. The memory of my last meal refused to leave my mouth. My suit couldn’t save me much longer. It took some time to convince it, but I ordered my suit to turn off life support.

I woke up again. At first, I was mad at my suit for disobeying me, until I realized I was on a firm dry surface. Without waiting for my suit’s permission, I took off the helmet. I can breathe. I quickly discarded the rest of the outfit. It was cold and damp but bearable. My muscles atrophied by staying in that suit for so long, but I got my balance back on the uneven ground. There was a faint light all around, but it was enough to see the aquatic creatures on the floor. I recognized some of them earlier. Later, the ambiance increased to my liking.

I checked what was edible, built a fire, and had a meal. I used the suit’s filtration system to give myself clean water to drink. It was so good.

After resting, I got up to survey my surroundings. Every once in a while, water would rush in past objects in the distance that looked like doors. It was too controlled to be natural. I asked my suit to provide the data of my surroundings for the last three days. I was followed for two days. A whale-like creature as big as a city was trailing me. It was too far back to be a threat. The creature only rushed up to me when my life support was off.

Am I in this creature? The scientist in me emerged from its dormancy. I examined the readings of the environment. This is amazing. Pressure and temperature were nearly uniform throughout the waters. Is this an aquatic universe? How did it come to be? So many theories came flooding into my brain.

My suit took a beating, but it’s working. Good, as it is the only thing that will make my new life bearable.

After a hard day of work, I found a dry spot to have a good night’s sleep. As my heavy eyelids did all the work, I realized my surroundings became comfortably warm. And then I dreamed.

“Boundless you and I.”

“You, in my mind?”

“I is eternal ocean. Eternal ocean is I. Days many followed.”

“Days, why?”

“Saw you when breach I. Empty, death, and dry. Needed life so to my waters you dive. Now rest. Tomorrow songs to make.”

“Thoughts to form and fly.”