1 PM
The fierce sun beat upon the seemingly never ending Mediterranean sea, reflecting the light into a blinding patch of shine. The sea was calm, pulsing rhythmically and breathing with cadence.
Just off the shore he floated, motionless, his black mop of hair the only visible spec in the blue, bobbing up and down with every breath the sea took. Above his jade and olive complexion his face washed pale red from the unforgiving sun and the tips of his black hair begun to tinge grey. From the shoulders down his body was beneath the water, kept afloat by a life jacket. The water, although calm and peaceful was carefully wrecking his body apart; limb by limb, organ by organ. His fingernails had begun to tender and were now peeling back and his lips were rough and cracked. Beneath his clothes, his skin was raw. His entire body riddled with gaping sores leaving him liable to a whole catalogue of infections. The pressure of the water on his feeble body was reducing circulation and made breathing a gruelling ask. And finally and most significantly beneath the milky water were a family of ocean creatures who could definitely sense the blood off his oozing sores.
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He had been swimming aimlessly for the past 4 days and after thirst and hunger set in, exhaustion took its toll and there he floated; victim to the current and where it would take him.
The fish boat he was travelling in capsized 2 days prior, toppling over and smothering him and the 150+ people he was with.
It first tilted slowly then all at once; none of them could swim and the merciless sea made quick work of them, swallowing them and muting their gutting howls.
Silence returned and prevailed.
He was lucky, he could swim.
He floated there, bug eyed and disoriented by the episode. He had lost all sense of direction but he couldn’t stay. He knew he had a long journey ahead so he chose his way quickly and erratically and