ON A BLACK MOON SEA ~A Halloween Anthology~

DEAD SEA

It all happened so quickly that I was surprised that I could still recall the memories. One moment I was driving past the corniche, listening to music. Next moment, a lightening had blinded me despite there being no clouds in the sky, and my car had pushed through the barricade and into the Arabian Sea.

I was not supposed to remember what happened afterwards – it was not normal to – but I did. I remembered the car filling up with water, I remember struggling to breathe as I tried to remain afloat, I remember darkness wrapping its tendrils around my brain, sneering, ecstatic. And I remember another blinding flash of light, in the sea.

After that, things get a bit confusing – I was in the car and then I was not. I was floating in the sea, supported by some invisible force and I could see the sun rays break through the water. Then, I saw the bottom of a boat, a fishing net, and my body being pulled upwards.

The sun rays made me squint as I was pulled inside the boat. I didn't help the men who removed the fish net from me. I just lay lifeless on the small boat.

"Another entry?" a squeaky voice said to no one in particular.

"I suppose so." Another one replied.

One small hand pulled my hand towards them and stamped my wrist with something.

A pair of golden eyes peered at me, face like that of a child, grinning at me with a teeth less smile. I would have shuddered if I could at the ugly creature. "Do you know your name, miss?"

I could not reply.

"She'll need to be revived." The same ugly creature said.

"DOA?" the squeaky voice asked.

"I suppose so."

"Should I inform?" the squeaky voice asked.

"Why else are you attached to this goddamn boat?"

Something clicked and the boat shuddered. A groan was heard from a distance and my thought flew to whales. If I could have laughed, I would have laughed. Whales?

What did I think I was part of? Moby Dick? No, no – this was a strange after-death scenario with my conscious and subconscious intact, but no control over my body. This man, dwarf, creature – whoever he was – was in charge of transporting me to wherever corpses go. I was a corpse who could see? Formulate thoughts?

But he had clearly said 'DOA' – dead on arrival? But I need to revived?

I lay on the boat for what seemed like hours, the creature or thing that had groaned didn't particularly seem interested in our boat. The sun was scorching hot and I realized that I hadn't blinked since being pulled to the boat. But I was not tearing up either; I could just feel the heat.

And then the boat stopped.

I heard a robotic voice, "Who is this?"

"It is Mel-O. I got another one. She is a woman, thirty-two, drowned, needs to be revived."

"Accident?" the robotic voice asked.

"Yes." Mel-O, the creature said, "Car-crash."

"There are not enough people dying of freak accidents, mate, we need to talk to Death." The robot said in the same monotonous tone. I had to be sure that I had heard it right. They needed to talk to Death? What could that possibly mean?

"Anyway," the robotic voice said in its bored way, "Come through."

The boat moved and I continued to stare at the open sky, until the sky was covered by a gate made up of shadows. The squeaky voice said, "Welcome to Atlantis."