I have five minutes. Five minutes to try, five minutes to breathe, five minutes to fight.
***

My head was throbbing from the alcohol I had consumed some moments ago. Exactly when was unknown to me because my memory was all foggy. I couldn’t make sense of my heavy limbs. My clothes dragged me down and I had to fight to keep myself from falling further in. It would be a lot easier if I were fighting flesh with flesh, solid with solid. A solid could not consume you and smother you; it could not trap you like water could.

I remember stumbling out of the bar and getting into the car. It was pouring with rain and wind whipped my hair and clothes, or whatever that was dangling off me, back and forth. The clouds were clustered together in ominous groups as if foreshadowing some misfortune event. Talk about pathetic fallacy. The city was blanketed in threatening shadows and I felt compelled to hide from them. The rain plummeted down ruthlessly and I got pummelled my tiny fists of water. The rain was so heavy the buildings ahead looked like looming silhouettes. I made my way to my car, drenched in rain. I waved my hands out in front of me as if I could clear a path. I got into the beaten up car that had a window that was partially broken. A piece of junk it was. Above me I could hear the violent drumming of raindrops. It sounded almost angry. I carelessly shifted the car into reverse…. I reversed into the sea. I was in my car…sinking to the bottom of the sea.

I was groggy but I was conscious of my raging lungs. My first instinct was to scream but I quickly squelched that thought because that would be a ridiculous thing to do. The water spilled into my car but I tried not to panic. The sea was violent, in combat with the vicious sky. The powerful waves shoved my car and I further out to sea and I was thrashed about in my car, being painfully shouldered and whacked by hard metal. A shard of glass from the broken window scratched my arm and a sharp pain shot up my arm. It was the pain that made me realize I could escape. A wave crashed down onto my car and I got bonked sorely on the head. The unexpected hit also caused me some oxygen. I cursed in my mind.
I was scared now. Adrenaline finally decided to kick in. I floundered for a moment in the dark sea but I managed to get into a strategic position that would allow me to escape the car. I aimed and kicked the broken window as hard as I could. It cracked slightly but not enough. I desperately rammed my foot into the window again and again. I was wasting my breath. I was almost out.

The rough sea and the rain worked together in sinking me. My lungs were burning and my hands instinctively grasped my throat. I wriggled and writhed in the water. . I was choking, my lungs clawing at me. I tried using my hands to break the window but the water made my movements slow and I couldn’t gather enough momentum. I shut my eyes. I seemed to think that if I couldn’t see, I wouldn’t feel it. I didn’t have the strength…I didn’t have the will…I had five minutes.

So I had five minutes. Five minutes to try, five minutes to fight, five minutes to survive…

…but my five minutes are up.