My legs were sore and growing stiff from the chilly waters as were my arms and my face had finally begun to stop burning. It seemed like hours and hours that I was in the water floating on some debris from the ship. The tears kept trickling from my eyes and ran down my face mixed with blood and the salty waters of the ocean, praying that I would survive and find my one great love, Astor.
As I floated in the water amongst the wreckage and the bodies of those that had not escaped, the crew members, patrons, children even…my tears flowed endlessly as my heart and soul continued to crack at the thought of never seeing my Astor, and for all the lives, lovers, and families that had been swallowed up in the blast. My pain was theirs and my night seemed never-ending, but nothing compared to what life would be like if I survived. Without Astor.
I must have drifted into unconsciousness for awhile, eventually I felt something move me, shake me over and over, calling my name in a frantic and devastated tone. As my eyes began to adjust to the darkness I immediately tried to sit up and move from this person, this attacker who had his hands on me. As I regained my vision and lost my spurt of strength I slowly fell into his arms and tried to cover my face with my torn robe. He could not see my burned face, he could never see it. While trying to shield my face, I clung to him for dear life. I clung to Astor.
His right arm was bleeding and his clothes were shredded, his face was bruising and he never looked more embracing as he did in this moment. We were together and we were going to survive together. Our love had already overcome a lot. He talked to me with that loving soothing voice that was now coated by fear. A fear of death, a fear of loosing each other forever. He whispered to me about our future, our wedding, our blessings and our life together. We both lost consciousness and drifted in the waters of the Gulf. Just before my eyes closed I could see a light, multiple lights, lanterns off in the distance.
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