Tight! Tight! by Daphne Fischer
Water threaded through her toes, nipping at her skin. Another step, and another, until she was knee-deep. She meant to stay right there where her heart was calm and the cold was manageable. She meant to dig her feet into the wet sand like they used to do together; one hand clutched in her mother’s, the other outstretched, fingers splayed, beating back the waves. But the siren sea coaxed her forward.
Another step, and another, she let the current devour her thighs, her hips, and her waist. Soft whispers tickled her ears, cooing and humming while the water wrapped around her, tight.
“Tight! Tight!” She would demand of her mother. “Squeeze my hand tight!”
And her mother would grip her as hard as she could, pinching until the little girl could no longer feel her fingers.
“Tight, tight,” she now murmured to the sea. And the sea gripped the woman, pinching until she could no longer feel anything.
Until the water cradled her head, and the chill punched her lungs, shattering the siren spell. Acetic liquid flooded her throat, sliding down, peeling the wallpaper off her insides. Cornflowers and daffodils disintegrating under the salt, erasing everything. She relaxed into the current steadily towing her deeper, her limbs grew heavy, waterlogged.
Tight she exhaled, arm outstretched to the soft shadows below, fingers splayed, reaching.
Daphne Fischer is a Pennsylvania native, filmmaker, and a third-year student at UCLA where she studies English with a concentration in creative writing. She is a fiction editor and the social media coordinator for Fish Barrel Review. Her work has been recognized by Swim Press, Friday Flash Fiction, BIFF, Lady Filmmakers, LA Indie Film Fest, Bentonville Film Festival, and elsewhere. On any given day she can be found walking her dogs, talking to herself in a bad British accent, or leaving too many half-empty mugs around her apartment.
Photo by Blake Cheek on Unsplash
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