Tides

ONE

I wake up in the sand, dented in where my helmet breaches its surface, sand particles glinting all around as I blink open my eyes. Water laps up against the glass as the tides roll in, pink light from the sky above glittering through the salt and hydrogen, and as I stare, confused in wonder, I push out of the crystal clear.

GLIMMER-GLIMMER-GLINT.

And I stare at the world.

I'm on an island. The sky and ocean are sunset pink, interlaced with lighter clouds, and instead of a sun there's a light blue comet, crashing endlessly through the atmosphere with astounding clarity. A gemlike glimmer is glinting in it's warmth. My suit's warmth, that is. I look down at my NASA suit as I wonder where I am, what happened- then sit back in the sand, watching the water rush up to my feet and to my back.

Glimmer-Glint. The comet's light sends jaggedy light to glimmer over the pink-hued ocean, and I rub my head before realizing it's encased.

I don't know where I am.

I don't know how I got here.

But as I stare out at the calm pink waters, I realize there's only one thing my body wants to do.

And that's sleep.

I wake up above a city, metallic buildings hanging high below me in the overcast, but I realize quickly that it's mirrored above me, or below me, with the tips of bushes hanging still in the air.

Above as it is below. I move around, floating in the air, and see a hole in the sky, broken where the mirror meets.

I'm in the mirror.

GLUGGLUGLUGLUGLUG

I open my eyes, blinking up at the pink. I don't know what's going on in my head. The brightish pink clouds roll lazily by as I lay there, spreadeagled, and as I glance at my hand, I scrunch up a fistful of sand and let it sift back to the ground. I don't...

What's happening to me?

My eyes flutter closed and I sink into the sand, glittery particles of sand falling away into the darkness I float through, and again I'm in the city, floating back through the rip to hover back between the worlds.

I reach a gloved hand up- no, wait, down- and I see a vine snaking its way up my arm, sending out spindles to wrap around my fingers.

Glurggluglugglugglugglug.

And I'm awake again.

As I try to rise but thump back to the sand, I know that something's very wrong.

Time passes. I stare at the clouds, gaining a momentary reprise from the lapses, and a crystalline wind flutters by, distorting the clouds slightly as it passes.

I need the strength to roll over. From there, I'll have a better view of my surroundings.

I start to roll to my side but feel suddenly weak and my vision blacks out, and I struggle as my breath catches in my throat, tumbling endlessly through darkness.

Stars, darkness and the stars, and a few measly planets mere specks in the sky.

Pulse! I see the sun, glimmering to the left.

No. A sun, not our sun. A star. And it's to the right.

I close my eyes and see a pink planet as I struggle to think about it, and then swim through the barrier, sinking into the darkness.

Darkness.

This time, the sky is black.

And dark-black water's lapping all around me, no matter how far I've pulled myself in the sand.