All you could hear was the tapping of light rain on the roofs in the dark, early morning. A man strolled through the streets of Venice, having not yet arrived at his destination. Wrinkles covered Ivan's face, aged from years of experience. Every morning, he walked to his gondola, and waited for Venice to awake, so he could start his job as a gondolier.
The water sloshed up against the canal, a new sound to Ivan. It was usually silent at this time of day, when the sun had barely enveloped the city. He slowly shuffled his way up to the edge, stopping until he could see the tiniest bit of water. Strangely, it moved in a motion as if it had been disturbed. Tentatively leaning towards the canal, keeping his distance, he looked over to see if a fish had disrupted the water's surface. As he continued leaning, he panicked, almost diving head first into the canal. When seeing water, he shook off his fear, reminded of the traumatic memory of almost drowning when he was young. Droplets of rain began to fall heavily as he made his way to the boat. When it was in sight, he started walking at a brisker pace, but as he approached, he noticed that there was a splishing sound underfoot. Glancing down at his feet, he saw water surrounding the soles of his shoes. He kept on walking, almost tripping, due to the slippery cobblestone surface. The canal was filling gradually as the rain fell harder. Ivan felt millions of little droplets splattering across his skin. The never ending downpour filled the canal in a matter of minutes so that Ivan was knee deep in water. He struggled through the water to safety, but he was frail and weak. As the wind became stronger, the already abandoned gondolas started to float towards Ivan, almost crushing him.
Scrambling to dodge one gondola that was headed straight for him, he waded as fast as he could, but his heart sank, feeling nothing beneath his feet. He flailed as he tried to find his footing, thrashing even more, terrified of not being able to swim. As he kept on splashing, the wind grew stronger and moved the water in a wave-like motion so that Ivan inhaled mouthfuls of the canal. The waves incessantly swamped him as he sank. Ivan repeatedly coughed up water just as more of it came in to suffocate him. His head disappeared under the water, not resurfacing. He couldn't breathe, still thrashing around, dying for air. When the old man couldn't take it any longer, he surrendered to the canal's current, fading out of consciousness, as he emerged to the surface.