“Come on, just up the hill—here. Sit. Sit down.”
“Can someone bring her water?”
“Water!?”
“Enough of that—”
“Who wants to think of water after a mass drowning?”
“Someone who’s still alive.”
“So shut up and help.”
“She’s still breathing.”
“No she’s not.”
“She is.”
“I need to sit—”
“We all need to sit.”

“Does anyone know what happened?”
“Do you have eyes?”
“It’s flooded.”
“How far?”
“How deep?”
“Does it matter?”
“Just look!”
“It’s all gone—”
“Gone how?”
“I don’t know.”
“Go ask the ocean why it decided to get up and sit on us if you’re so nosy.”  
“Yeah, maybe it’ll tell you if you ask it nicely.”

“We need to send rafts—”
“There might be survivors—”
“You don’t understand—”
“We left to trade—”
“We just got back!”
“Our families—”
“Do you see them now?”
“No.”
“That’s why we need to search.”
“You can’t.”
“You must.”
“You must not.” “
No—you don’t get it.”
“They’re gone. All of them.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Then go. Go look.”
“Do you see any signs of life out there?”
“Do you see anything but water?”

“Have you seen the birds?”
“There—those two.”
“They were circling—”
“They flew into the flood!”
“They’re gazing at nothing—”
“No, at something—”
“They’re in a standoff with Alcyone!”
“They’re scouts—”
“No—sentries—”
“Her spies—”
“They’re reporting back to the wind.”
“To the dead.”
“To the sea.”
“They’re passing judgment—”
“What are they even looking at?”
“Something beyond the flood.”
“They can see the spirit—”
“The one that did this.”
“They whisper to the wind.”
“But never to us.”
“They’re not just birds.”
“They’re his.”
“Whose?”
“Her lover.”
“The poet.”  
“He’s dead.”
“So are we.”
“Speak for yourself.”
“Don’t say that!”

“You think Alcyone sent them?”
“I thought they belonged to the poet?”
“She must have.”
“To help?”
“To watch?”
“To punish?”
“To redeem herself.”
“She has no redemption.”
“She tried—”
“She failed—”
“She mourned—”
“She cursed—”
“She cursed fate itself—”
“And fate cursed us back.”

“Don’t talk like that.”
“My kids are right here.”
“Maybe don’t bring your kids to the edge of an apocalypse.”
“I didn’t bring them—”
“We fled—”
“Then hush—”
“You’re scaring her.”
“She’s scared.”
“So am I.”
“We all are.”
“Not all.”
“Some are angry.”
“Some are stupid.”
“Some think they can fix it.”
“Some think stories help.”
“Some think stories are lies.”
“Some think the birds are gods.”
“I think we’re all wasting our time bickering.”

“Let’s calm down.”
“Use logic.”
“This is not logic.”
“This is screaming.”
“We’ll bring you back—”
“They’ll send rescue teams—”
“They’ll figure it out!”
“No they won’t.”
“They will.”
“They never do.”
“Someone will come.”
“Someone has to.”
“We’re still here—”
“We shouldn’t be.”
“Then why are we?”

“I saw the wave reach out—grab my sister.”
“I looked into the water. There was a face—”
“A man walked into the flood. Smiling. Like it was home—”
“The flood ate my children. Like a beast. Like it laughed at me.”
“I didn’t see anything. I ran.”
“Then don’t speak.”
“Why not?”
“You weren’t a witness.”
“I’m a survivor.”
“If you didn’t suffer, you don’t count.”
“That’s not fair—”
“He didn’t see what we saw.”
“He didn’t feel it claw through his soul.”
“No one felt it the same.”
“All of it was wrong.”

“That’s enough!”
“You people have all suffered.”
“Stop shouting!”
“You need to stand together—”
“Let us help—”
“You all need to stop—”

“We need answers.”
“We need silence.”
“We need names.”
“We need food.”
“We need to go back.”
“We need to leave.”
“We need to pray—”
“We need to forget—”
“We need to scream.”
“We need the sea to speak.”

“Was this prophecy?”
“Was it mercy?”
“Was it the wind?”
“The wind screamed—”
“The wind mourned.”
“The wind was her lover—”
“The wind betrayed her.”
“The wind tried to save her.”
“No—the wind tried to save us.”
“Then why did it fail?”
“Because no one was worth saving.”
“Because someone lied.”
“It wasn’t the wind.”
“It was her tears.”
“No—it was his tears.”
“It was the fates mourning her mistake.”
“The moon wept for its dead poet.”
“No one left to sing for the sky.”
“We are the sky!”
“And no one sings for us.”

“Stop.”
“They’re crazy.”
“Maybe they did this.”
“Why would they?”
“How could they?”
“They’re not crazy.”
“They’re grieving.”
“So are we.”
“But we didn’t see it happen.”
“Near-death rewrites the mind.”
“It rewrites the world.”



“HEY—HEY EVERYONE—SHUT UP AND LOOK!”



…



“It’s… receding.”
“No.”
“Look.”
“Is it real?”
“Real.”
“It’s pulling back.”
“It’s—”
“Why?”
“How?”
“What’s happening?”
“Is this a second wave?”
“No… it’s quiet.”
“Like breath drawn in.”
“Like it’s… listening.”

“Maybe we did something right.”
“No. No one did anything right.”
“Then why aren’t we dead?”
“Maybe the birds.”
“Maybe the wind.”
“Maybe her.”
“Maybe… not her.”
“The poet has come to save us from the same fate!”
“Maybe…”
“No—I think…”
“What if…”