English

• Sunsets are preludes to dawn. And on this day in particular, the sunset's majesty filled my mind with the most beautiful of dreams. The sky painted me a kaleidoscopic array of colours. The summer-fruit hues stretched out to me like a last embrace, before retreating into her solitary slumber. The rays grew dimmer and dimmer. The last of the evanescent glow became cosseted behind soft silvery clouds, the paradisiacal view - the lulling ebb and flow of the mellifluous low tide was entrancing me as the water ticked my toes, reflecting crimson, and tangerine, and gold...
• The water was invigorating against my sun-kissed skin. A cacophony of outrageously infectious laughter filled the air as my friends and I chased each other through the surf. Leah cackled with rapture, crossing her arms over her aching stomach in attempt to catch her breath. But it was no use.
• Leah's laugh was a beautiful phenomenon. Even when she was mocking someone, her laughter was full of warmth and life - it invited people in. It meshed well with her windblown hair and laid-back appearance, and made her seem that much more approachable. Any time she laughed, it seemed genuine and sincere.It was all a façade.Splash!My head was underwater.
• A rush of water was surging fast down my throat
• I looked up, desperate to catch a glimpse of the wispy clouds I had seen moments before
• I was scrambling uncontrollably and screaming like the wails of a lost soul echoing from an abyss
• I flailed my cramping arms and legs which only plunged me deeper into the suffocating realm of the fathomless ocean
• The pressure pounded at my skull
• It was like having a gun held to my head


  Being told to not let my heart beat
• Of course it'll beat
• Just how my heart automatically pulsate rhythmically in my chest, my helpless lungs inhaled, screaming for air, yet flooding with dark; repulsive; briny water
• In that moment when the coolness cascaded in, I knew I would soon be dead. In seconds I would be nothing more than a puny victim of the relentless currents. I yearned for salvation, for a rescuing hand to pull me from the grasp of death, back to the sunset and safety of the soft sand that used to be smooth as silk beneath my bare feet.
• What seemed like dates passed, and when I awoke, I was met with a paradoxical sight. Another sunset sinister echoed the painted sky I had previously seen while naïvely darting over the wave - sculpted ripples and ivory foam. The strawberry ans honey hues flooded my periphery.
• I found myself leaning against a palm tree, tilted at a perfect sixty-degree angle, my body battered and bruised, but alive. Miraculously, someone had heard my silent screams and answered my desperate plea for help.
• My recollection came back in waves, much like the relentless, plundering, rapacious waves of the ocean. I recalled flashes of the rescue - the strong arms pulling me from the churning currents, the steady reassurance of a voice guiding me to safety. And then, a face emerged form the depths of my mind - a built man in navy shorts, his eyes filled with determination and prudence. His strong hands had been my lifeline, his calm voice a beacon of hope in the murkiness.
• Eventually, a couple of minutes after I awoke, his deific silhouette approached. When he introduced himself as Sky, his eyes sparkled like the stars, rendering me euphoric.
• I bent my graceless arms, secured them onto the sheltering trunk ans hoisted myself onto my distressed feet; a squeal of agony escaped from my salt-crusted lips.
• Leah was nowhere to be found, nor were the rest of the group. But that was insignificant. Clearly, Leah had a deceptive visage, and like a moth to a flame, I'd fallen for her illusory kindness. Resigned, I inhaled deeply. That was for another day now.
• The ocean had nearly claimed me, but Sky had refused to let me slip away. Gratitude welled up within me as I gazed one more out at the setting son, its golden light a symbol of hope and renewal. Exhausted, I reclined onto the rock Sky was resting on; sleep took me away.