The Anatomy of Drowning (ONC 2022 Longlist)

Death is a shadow that follows you through time.

Vera Langley thought she would live and die and be forgotten. As a pathologist she knew the limitations of life and the vastness of death and she wanted nothing more than to be forgotten when she was nothing but dust.

It was a thought she took solace in repeating. Until an accident takes the lives of everyone aboard a research vessel leaving Vera as the sole survivor.

Dealing with survivors guilt and the physical recovery of nearly drowning, Vera isn't surprised when she finds little solace in sleep. Each time she closes her eyes she finds herself back on the ship only it isn't the R.M.S Etruria she remembers.

In place of well-worn metal staircases are beautiful hand polished banisters and carpet covered hallways. The way the R.M.S Etruria had looked on its maiden voyage in 1893. At first it seems like nothing except a few harmless dreams but death comes for Vera each night in her sleep and she isn't the only one dying by dawn.

Between whispers in the dark that may hold answers and shadows down corridors, Vera must hold onto her sanity as she tries to cheat death and stop him from claiming more than her life.

An ONC 2022 Project

Highest Rank #1 ONC
Final WordCount: 21,466
Completed: April 30, 2022