The time was here. Taking breaths, we kept marching forward into the water. The water rose high to our chest, shoulders, and chins. We no longer looked at anywhere. We kept looking onward. We no longer felt. Our bodies were engulfed in the blackness of touch. Without hesitation, we marched forward.. Last we saw, were the fog above the swaying black water, and the mountains behind the veil. Then, we saw nothing but the endless darkness continuing forever. And yet, we kept marching forward, and the black water embraced us; it flowed in between our arms and necks as we marched deeper, deeper and deeper…

We were all walking in the water, thighs deep.

The water was not cold nor warm.

As we glided our fingers along the surface, the water slid in between our fingers, like a cloth of silk, but more flowing and unconstrained in movement. It was not wet. There were no ripples.

The water was dark; perhaps a green, like that water that washed out so many water colours off of the brushes of various sizes.

The fog lay low above the water, and wherever it felt the water, it made a channel with the water, and was sucked into the water. It was like dripping milk. The water turned murky for a few seconds, glowing white, until it vanished and mingled into the black water.

The fog seems to go on forever, in every direction. We look back. But we find nothing in the midst of the cloud. Ahead of us, behind the white veil of fog, lay low the mountains.

There are others too. On the right, on the left. Two steps away. Five steps behind. We are all walking in the same pace. One step at a time. Deeper into the water every time we take a step.

There must have been many more, beyond the fog, but all I could see were the silhouettes against the fog.

Where we were heading, we did not know.

Above us lay stars. But it was different from the sky we knew. There were no constellations we have grown accustomed to. Every second, the twilight sky wept its comets. Some were purple, some were blue, some green. Some small, and some big. The falling stars left a trail behind, as though hesitant to extinguish its lights forever, but understanding that their time has come. Thousands of comets flew down on us. And yet, every split second, new tear drops formed, and shimmered quietly.

A photograph came drifting by, and were caught in between my fingers. It had scratches and bents. There were two twins, diving their heads into a pink frosting cake. On it, it read ‘Happy Birthday Anne and Danny’

We were not supposed to, but I reached out my hand and took the photograph out of the black water. Upon my touch, the vibrant colours of the pink frosting started to pale, and the joyful features of the twins blurred. In the end, the photo started to shrivel, like a dying flower.

I released the photograph into the water again. It breathed again; out of the reach of my suffocating hand. The photo restored its colours again. Again it drifted helplessly into the fog, never to be seen again.

I took out a small book out of my inner pocket. I knew this book. I never knew I had it with me. It was old, and its edges were wrinkled with bends. Its cover felt so natural under my palms, I have touched it a hundred times. I opened the book, and smiled at the underlines and annotations covering the pages. I slid my finger across the pages, until pages started to smoulder. The traces of my fingers were ashed. The corners of the pages shrivelled in flames. The crumbles of ashes were caught in the wind, and carried up and away.

I laid the burning book on the water, and waves snatched the book away from my fingers. Soon, the book too, drifted away into the distant fog. I was slightly hesitant in letting it go.

The time was here. Taking breaths, we kept marching forward into the water. The water rose high to our chest, shoulders, and chins. We no longer looked at anywhere. We kept looking onward. We no longer felt. Our bodies were engulfed in the blackness of touch. Without hesitation, we marched forward.. Last we saw, were the fog above the swaying black water, and the mountains behind the veil. Then, we saw nothing but the endless darkness continuing forever. And yet, we kept marching forward, and the black water embraced us; it flowed in between our arms and necks as we marched deeper, deeper and deeper…