The alarms were a Titanic dirge. Countdown to drownin'. The wave was a wall that swept inland. Islands made of the edges. This strike was louder. Water in eardrums. For a moment, the marble froze. Rows and rows of teeth close. Swept into fast forward. Slurry of salt and gasoline. Both caught in the riptide. Faint throb of a muscle beats. Expires. We die. It, the world, me. Us. Lungs full to the brim with blue water. Wake up to the clockwork. Three-fifteen in the morning. All day, that dorsal fin cuts reality.