We stared into the water
And saw our reflections.
But something was odd about it,
We were children
Wearing our fathers' and
Our mothers' shoes.

We couldn't see their young faces,
As we were looking behind ourselves,
As if we were waiting for something.
And when we saw our faces
We were confused.
We looked different,
With our pale, deflated cheeks.
And our eyes were tired,
Open, but barely.

The image was one of a nightmare
So I stuck my hand in the water to disrupt it.
The water churned and the image seemed to fade,
But as I pulled my hands out
The water's consistency changed,
And suddenly it was corn starch
Or maybe chocolate syrup,
I couldn't tell.
And none of the oceans in the world could wash the liquid
From our hands.