Zerfall

We had given up rowing what felt like months ago. Our little boat was going to float wherever it wanted. Wherever they wanted it to go.

"Do you have any siblings?" Roger asks me, his eyes trained on the boards at our feet. He has lost the nerve to look out over the waves.

"A sister, would have been older, but she died before I was born," I tell him. This is true. But I've lied to him when he asks me the same question twice. He never seems to notice.

"I'm sorry," he says. Is unsure of what to say next. Perhaps I have shut him up for a bit. I use the silence to listen to the waves lapping against the edge of the boat, flinging flecks of salt onto my face. We rationed what food and water we had managed to take from the sinking ship, but it only lasted a few days. We quickly realized we didn't even need it. I had taken to drinking the sea water that made its way into the boat just for the taste. Something different.

Green shapes moved about in the water around his. They had reminded me of seals that night on the ship. Fat but fast and sleek somehow.

"Have I told you how blue your eyes are?" Roger asks.

"Please, spare me," I say, laying down flat and turning away from him. I hear him fussing with a splintered section of his seat.

"Do you reckon-" Roger begins.

"I don't reckon anything, Roger," I say pointedly. I had grown weary of the philosophy on the first day. What did it matter if we were in hell? What did it matter if we had brought this upon ourselves? Knowing those things wouldn't change the yellow eyes that looked up at us from beneath the surface.

"You could kill me," he says, his voice low. Again, not the first time he's offered. But it is the first time I don't take him up on it. The knife in my boot is caked in his blood. But his wounds never last. The death never quite sticks. The momentary quiet is always nice, though. This time, I don't feel like hearing the drowner's gasp that will eventually come. The same inane questions of what happened and where were we. I would cut out his tongue if I thought it would do any good.

"Just jump over if you want out so bad," I say. I let my hand dangle in the water. Relish the bit of thrill it still gives. But, as usual, something inevitably brushes my fingertips and I yank them back out. My body wants to live more than I do.

I look back to Roger to see he is standing on his seat, his arms outstretched. A small panic leaps into my throat without warning. "Roger, sit down, you dumbass," I scold.

"If I see your sister," he says, tears streaming down his face, his breath coming in quick heaving gasps. One of the things from the water appears and lets out a happy snort. Arms of green grey flesh extended from the creature's side. They bend and jerk as they shoot out and fold around Roger, who begins to scream.

I lunge forward, drawing the blade from my boot. I dig it into the arm closest to me and a torrent of bloody sea water threatens to drown me. Another set of arms come from behind and yank my foot from beneath me. I dangle upside down as I watch Roger's head disappear into the smiling mouth of the creature. I can hear his voice from inside the things throat.

The monster that had grabbed me pulls me close to its face, so human but not human-like at all. In a swift motion, I drive my knife into the thing's eye, screaming. But it doesn't seem to notice. I yank the blade free, the yellow eye coming out along with it. In the hollow socket of its missing eye, I see another staring back at me.

A blue eye with long lashes.

It sparkles and shines.

There's joy in it.