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☾ 𝑂𝑁𝐸
Ever since she was little, Anna's dreams had been more vivid than the clear, summer days that were rare across England. They remained in her mind for too long afterwards, sharper than her memories of the previous day. It was like a second reality to the young girl, one that happened during the night, when her head was floating to the clouds and her feet were planted firmly in bed.
In this dream, she stood by the railing of a large passenger boat, setting sail across the ocean. Below, white tufts of water sprayed against the side, their mighty peaks reaching to graze softly against her skin. Anna drank in the strong scent of seaweed and salt, the smell prickling at her eyes and making her lips dry.
But this time, a sick reality truly had been mixed with a daydream. Her knuckles burned white as she gripped onto what little she could against the wall behind her. Anna was tossed back and forth as the boat crashed through the stormy waves, rocking the deck violently. Her hands shook as she reached for the blanket that was draped under and over her frail body, acting as a bed for the passengers that were forced to remain under the deck of the boat for the entire journey.
She could imagine the warm beds and private space of the people above. Anna hadn't seen the sun for sixteen days, hadn't felt the warm rays on her pale skin for more than two weeks.
To the left of her, a woman sat huddled with a small child in her lap, her scraggly, grey hair shielding her eyes of the horror around her. To the right, a kind man named Robert attempted to sleep with his holed-up jacket over his head. They were all damp and cold, the water flooding through the dark space in the ceiling that lead to the floor above. Anna looked toward it, her eyes blinking against the sprinkles of saltwater that sprayed down to her eyes.
A flash of harsh, yellow light broke through the shadows momentarily, slitting through the darkness like a sharp stroke of lightening. Staggering forward, she found herself reaching toward it, her head lolling as the boat dipped into another wave, her stomach dropping with it. Ana's hands met the icy metal of the ladders as she pulled the rest of her body toward them, her long skirt tugging at her feet to follow. The light was already gone from above, having shrunk back into the darkness that they all had grown used to. Below her was darkness, in front more shadows. From all around, shouts, cries and screams were drown out by the monstrous roar of the waves.
She saw a hand reach out, the sloppy fingers moving toward her and Anna struggled to hold onto both the ladder as she leaned to meet it half way. But the hand didn't pull her up. She was forced backward with a shocking strength, her body falling almost in slow motion, the flash of a light blinking her eyelids. With a snap, her back hit the floor, her arms sprawling out around her.
As she glanced back up, her eyes bleary, Ana saw no evidence or trace of the hand that had pushed her into the murky depths that she was prisoner to. Yet as she stared up, she began to notice that it hadn't been a hand at all, and her mindless imagination had played a trick on her once again.
