Thursday, July 21, 2011

Chapter Eighteen



A Prison Ship off the coast of Germany

He was drowning.
Mike gagged. His stomach heaved. His lungs, reflexively gasping for air, sucked in only foul, acrid, choking water. Drowning. Dying.
But they wouldn't let him die.
The anonymous voice with the New England accent whined the same question at him again: “What were you doing in Libya?”
Mike had told them the truth from the beginning.  No good. They continued to interrogate him for what felt an eternity.
They tilted him down on the board again.  A waterfall cascaded over his face cloth. He knew they were only trying to make his body feel like it was drowning. Doing a damn good impersonation, he thought, as he heaved and choked. 
Time lost all meaning, minutes felt like days, days eons.
Finally Mike receded into the deepest part of himself, into a place they could never reach.  From that detached hiding spot he observed what they were doing to him -- and hung on. Part of his mind drifted to other things as they hammered him with questions and torrents of water.
Mike floated between states of consciousness.  Is this how it ends?  His body shivered.  These people think I'm better at hiding the truth from them than I am.  The ship rolled and heeled – how do I even know I am on a ship?  The restraints held his arching body.  No one will ever know what happened to me. Metal groaned against metal in the distance. Why did I let Beth walk away? I should have fought for her, for us.
Loud voices, louder noises.  Thunder? Is that real or my demented imagination? 
His body felt suddenly un-tethered.  It's so light.  I must be dying.  A voice kept speaking to him.  I want to die. Just let me go, I want to go.
“I’m so sorry, Laddie”
Familiar. That voice sounds so familiar.
“I’m so sorry.”
Mike felt himself being lifted up. He was floating, being carried away. The light grew unbearable.  I just want to go.
“I just want to go.” Mike mumbled.
“Aye, we’ll be going now, Laddie, we’ll be going.”
A large hand stroked Mike’s brow. A single, massive arm held him gently.  

4 comments:

  1. good to still be anywhere at all :>)

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  2. So far so GOOD! Waiting with baited breath for the next chapter. :)

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  3. that is downright neighborly of ya Calamity :)

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