vertigo

i resurface with a gasp

and hear your cackle from somewhere behind me i dive

back into the water squint against the salt and screech

bubbles as your cold fingers wrap

around my ankle

i kick and you fall back and i’m grinning

as we continue this game of cat

and mouse

i dive deeper and my lungs protest

but i go because i want to escape

you more than i want to think

i resurface with a gasp

and hear you shout from somewhere behind me i dive

but i’m not fast enough and your arms

close around

me and i laugh because it’s so funny

for some reason and you laugh too and we’re trudging

up the sand when suddenly vertigo fills my head and has me

stumbling

you catch me before the

land does and i am grateful for your strong

arms around me

those nimble fingers worrying

over my head as my eyelids flutter like i’m about to fall

asleep

i wake up on the other side of the

world and my shoulder is

cold where your arm was around

me just a minute

ago

i roll to my side my finger scrabble over the sheets

but it is ice and you

are not

◆ here

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