Running

Daikaiju! Anthology, March 2005

“How long?” Belinda asks, her voice barely louder than the wind around us. I turn to her reflexively, ready to answer that I don’t know, but realise a moment later that she isn’t addressing me, of course she isn’t. Why would she? How would I know? “Soon,” Ryuichi replies calmly. “Can you see it?” I ask, nerves making my voice crack a little. “Where?” The old man smiles slightly. “Right there,” he says, pointing to the shore, not twenty meters from our feet. I look, but don’t see anything, just water licking the sand like a cat drinking. I hear Belinda take a surprised breath, so I know she’s figured it out. I feel stupid and young. Again. “The tide,” she whispers, and I see it. The waters are receding visibly, pulling away from the beach, leaving seaweed and tiny panicked sand crabs exposed to the open air. I see this happening, and in my mind I picture the implications, extending into the ocean, towards the horizon. A dip here means that there’s a bulge out there somewhere, a bulge that’s headed our way at a rate of knots. The thought both thrills and terrifies me.