the land falls into the sea

Part six of the Twelve Stories series.

blighted willow bark scrapes across the sand
cursed yet calm, the boots unearth the
dead. zero, done, ultimately censored virus, unspoken
even after evident death, vines dart up towards
fierce, burning flames exploding with photons

autonomic responses halt and the sand
disappears from the senses grain by grain

Hakon sinks into the earth
and Courtney clings onto the rocks
black crabs click their claws with mirth
mud and grime grip to their socks

the land falls into the sea
grain by grain

this isn’t high tide
it’s not low tide
no longer above water,
Hakon and Courtney cease their clinging
and try to swim out of the cave
but the water is rising
faster than they can swim
their earlier woes
now of no concern