In the Eyes of the Beholder

Hard to breathe. Suffocating. ...Please. The water envelopes my body, Deceptively soft, velvety against my thrashing limbs, Eyes glaze at the rims, ...You’re hurting me, Attempting to fight, trying to flee. All in vain. Your strength belittles mine own. Slaughtering the confidence I would need to escape. “Shhh…sleep now.” Smooth cadence, With hints of guttural malice…deceivingly seductive, All thoughts and intentions purely destructive, Falling. Failing. My lungs ache. “Just breathe…” There it was again. Misleading. I want to listen. I need to trust him. Enthralled. I’m afraid…I fear the fall…I’m falling. My body gives, lungs inhale, the water invades my corpse, His grip softens, I’m still conscious. “Still mine.” Rescued by death. I sense him still, falsely triumphant. I’m reaching. He cradles my body, caressing deadened flesh, Still warm with history, the remnants of life. ...I’m leaving you. He understands. Fingers trace over bruised lips, This was the only way. But it tears and rips Savagely at his sanity. ...Just Breathe. I console him. Ease the pain. The truth damages. I was already gone.