Elemental Delusions of Grandeur

Skye Maelstrom Faust

I am drowning. Water fills my mouth, flowing into my lungs like a torrent from a wet hell.

I have been spinning, so looking around through the dark liquid, I try to find the surface. I see only black. There is no light anywhere. But I can feel the saltiness of the ocean on my eyes.

I try and hold my breath. If I keep still, maybe I will float to the surface. But I can feel my body ache from submersion in deep water. The pressure feels to be getting greater.

So I close my eyes and resolve to die with peace of mind. Unfortunately my body cannot comply. My lungs force the stale air out, trying to take clean air in.

I can feel the lack of oxygen starting to force my brain into unconsciousness. I am dying.

Suddenly I feel a burning sensation against my chest. Pin-sized columns of air rush by me, presumably headed for the surface. I open my mouth to the columns and feel clean air bubble into my lungs. It hurts going in but it feels good.

My body rushes upward as the bubbles of air grow larger. Air floods my lungs as I break the surface.

But my ascension doesn't stop at the surface. The bubbles have now become heated. Now they are moving faster. It holds me in the air just above the water. And as I watch, I can see that the air has seriously displaced the water.

I can see the bottom of the ocean. What looks to be an endless expanse downward is of air. But I can see nothing at the bottom.

I am still rising in the air; the intensity is getting greater. Its heat begins to burn my face. Then my clothes begin to ignite. Before long, my body is engulfed in flames.

My skin is black from burning. My muscles, too, are on fire. Soon there is nothing left of my body except bones and a few of my internal organs, all of them damaged by the heat. The pain overcomes my sanity.

I scream.

And then the air, too, is gone. I am flying through the atmosphere into space. There I begin a long and slow orbit around Earth that lasts for eternity.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. This story is a copyright of Skye Maelstrom Faust (Michael Woods), 1998. All rights reserved.