Heat Waves

He gasps for air and throws all of his strength onto a stray sheet of metal (light enough to float, good enough to hold his weight). The waters around him rush past his ears. In waves upon waves upon waves. They had begun to crash against each other. Louder, and louder and louder. The noise grating his ears. “Just like the Fall.” His mind croaks. The cold air chills his sticky skin. Salt clinging to his eyelashes and lodged at the back of his throat. He gets flashes of what had happened. A sudden brush of heat against his skin brings back everything.

It starts like this.

It was as though a star had just died. A rush of heat enveloping his surroundings. Bright lights searing its way into his mind permanently, no matter how hard he rubbed his eyes, it was a never ending light. He could still hear the high pitched screams that became in sync with each other, one voice over another over another over another, all becoming one pitch.

He also remembers falling. 

Flapping his arms, hoping to fly, only to smack down straight to Earth like Icarus. Except he didn't smack down to Earth like him, he didn’t die like Icarus, no.

He sunk. 

He felt his limbs being grabbed and dragged down by salt and debris. He had felt his mind cloud with fear and resignation. And then he saw another tiny form in the distance trying to flail their way up, only to slow down till mid flap they grew still. A limb jolting every now and then. Till a final pause, the release of air bubbles floating up and up and up and up. 

He could see their body sinking from the weight of the waves. Pushed around like a rag doll. The body hits a bit of leftover debris and starts to sink. And sink. And sink. And sink. Where fish and rot will finally come for them. A sudden flash of bones showed before his eyes like a glimpse of the future. The person's bones. And his lying next to them. “I want to live.” He thinks to himself. His inner mind is screaming to swim up swim up swim up. 

He lets himself float up a little. The strain in his chest starting to grow. Then he swims.

He crawls his way through the stray sheets of metal, shoving his way through more dead bodies. Flashes of memories he wants to forget come before him with each body he meets. 

A little girl that was kicking his seat earlier. 

The young flight attendant with too much lipstick on.

What looked like who he supposed was the Pilot of this plane.

He saw bits of flesh and bone scattered around the area, floating away into the inky black void of the ocean. A familiar piece of fabric floated in front of him before he swatted it away violently. He watched it float lower and lower and lower. A Man who should be shoved down to the bottom and be left to rot with whatever is left of him. A Man who should be forgotten.

He also suddenly remembered that the ocean should be filled with all sorts of blues, not pinks.

His throat and chest clench.

He tries to forget the reason why the plane blew up.

(A middle aged man in a trench coat walks down the aisle of the plane with sure steps. He walks as though he has a mission. A purpose. A duty.

Each step he took towards the front of the plane felt like a bubble filled with silence began to surround everyone on board. The children began to quiet down. The elderly stopped their chatter to look at the man. And he himself couldn't help but look up from his book to watch the Man walk towards the front. The young flight attendant notices him and walks towards him. He's smiling. Yet - when looking back on it - it wasn't a psychotic smile, no. It was a man who had found peace. He looked so serene. Like as if he knew what to do. Like what he was doing was the right thing.

He finally stops towards the entrance to where the Pilot was at.

"Excuse me sir, are you alright? If you're looking for the restroom, it's to the back."

The man glances towards her, and then turns his attention to the rest of the plane. "Hello."

He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out. Whatever it was has the young flight attendant screaming a shrill scream.

"Goodbye."

And then he suddenly sees a star.)

His inner mind is screeching “I want to live.” He’s finally close to the surface but the closer he gets the more difficult it feels to leave this body of warmth. Of the sudden peace. But...

He wants to live. 

However, this didn’t feel like living, no. This felt more like rebirth. As though the ocean was a womb, and he was was their newborn.

More rapid flashes of a man standing up from his seat around the middle and walking to the front area of the plane reappear into his mind's eye. Of the sudden shrill scream of the flight attendant when she saw what he had in his coat. There was no speech. Just the sudden heat and light. Of no longer hearing. Of no longer seeing. Of no longer feeling. 

He sees the sudden way a young man - who was minutes ago watching his TV show - jolts upright, tearing off his headphones and standing to see the commotion, only to be flung backwards.

His body jolting to a stop due to the head rest of the seat. A loud crack from his spine snapping in half. His neck now at an awkward angle due to the whiplash. Arms flailing from the sudden wave of heat and air pressure from the Man's item. He looked similar to a doll. He knew immediately that the man was dead. His body continued to flail around as more passengers began dying on impact from the explosive descent to Earth. 

In the next millisecond, he could see the old couple die simultaneously from heart attacks. They were holding each other’s hands as they slumped forwards. Their bodies disappearing from his view the moment the plane blew like a dying star. 

And oh god even then.

Even as he finally pushes himself out of the oceans womb like safety. Even as he throws all his strength onto a sheet of metal (light enough to float, good enough to hold his weight). Even as he flops onto his back, panting and crying, his head aching as though it might finally blow. Even as he looks up and sees a vast amount of stars not yet ready to burst into balls of light like the plane did. Even then, as he screams and screams, and screams like the newborn he is, he could still feels the heat waves.