Image by Jasper Nance on Flickr
The monsoon had been raging for 10 days now. At last I found myself in the ferry line. I could hardly see the other cars through the mist, torn-up palm fronds, and other debris swirling about.
Ahead, water sloshed over the edge of the landing, spilling onto the asphalt. The traffic controllers clutched onto poles, their feet swishing beneath them as they continued to haphazardly direct traffic, hands flapping every which way.
Cars drifted onto the ferry in a confused stream as the boat rocked violently back and forth in the waves, sending cars clanging into one another.
Why they kept the ferry open during this time was a mystery to me. But I knew if I didn't go now, I never would.
Then the car behind me slammed into me, and together we too were swept up in the stream and carried onto the ferry.
My teeth rattled as I clanged about with the cars, my stomach swirling like the sea around me. The ferry's horn sounded, and I could feel the reverberations rippling through me, down to my feet. Seagulls fluttered around in the sky, wings unmoving, carried entirely by pockets of wind.
A house drifted past me. The details were obscured in the rain, but slowly the A-frame came into view, along with the white, chipped paint with blue borders and the golden doorbell, one of those big clanging ones that looked like it was from the 1800s.
It was my neighbor Mrs. Easock's house. I could just detect her silhouette on the top floor, where the kitchen was. She must be baking one of her blackberry pies.
The silhouette paused. I could feel her looking at me as I looked at her.
Our conversations had always skimmed the surface, rarely touching on anything beyond the weather and how our families were doing (always "fine"), but in that moment I felt a deep intimacy, like we were merging.
The cars around me also merged with me.
A dark cloud up ahead began to expand, growing larger and larger until it was one big, gaping mouth, until everything was swallowed up in this velvety blackness. As I, along with this ooey, gooey clump that had formed around me, drifted into the blackness, I felt a calm I had never experienced before, open to whatever awaited.
This is my entry for @mariannewest's Weekend Freewrite. The suggested prompt is highlighted in bold.
Are you bored with life? In a funk? Have no fear, music is here! Click here for my free playlist of 12 songs to ignite your passion and set your soul on fire!