His feet touched the
ground after half an hour of intensive flying. The wings of the
little plane made of durable metal covered the sun for a minute. He
looked up at the sky. It was turning pink. He took off his sunglasses
and fixed his sight on a large flight of mosquitos that was quietly
buzzing a few yards away. How fast, how gross, how unimportant they
were to him. He could smell the melting asphalt and admired the
perfect straight lines of white paint, the arrows and the black wheel
marks that spoiled the flawlessness and yet made it so perfect. Made
it so human. The airport was almost empty. There were about four
other planes, same as his, spread across the hangar in comfortable
distances. He felt good. He always did after flying.
“Time to go Mark”
It was the voice of the co-pilot. Mark hated him for it, for spoiling
his moment. He grabbed his bag and started walking towards the tower.
There was only a couple of things he needed to do before he was done
for the day. He opened the door and took the steps, two at a time.
The remains of the ecstasy were still there. Once he was inside the
tower room he got undressed. He grabbed the plain white towel that
smelled of bio wash and proceeded to the bath shower. He liked the
feeling of water on his skin. A hot shower would recharge him. He
stood there, the water flowing and slowly flooding the bath. He
turned the tap to the hottest temperature. The water started to burn
his skin, leaving it red and irritated. He just stood there watching
the steam move under his breath, watching the drops slide down the
glass and disappear forever. He decided to take his time and plugged
the bathtub. It was filling up quickly.
Mark lied down. He was
looking outside the window, staring at the the pink sky. It was open
and there was a little air draft. It got tangled up in his hair with
a soft whistle. He let his mind wander off. He felt at peace. The
bath was full now but Mark didn't stop the water. His thoughts were
too loud for the silence that would arrive. It was like the sound of
rain. The bath was large and he started sliding down, inch by inch.
He submerged.
Everything is amplified
underwater. Everything sounds different. Mark's eyes were closed so
that he could fully focus on the sound. He tapped his fingers on the
sleek walls of the bath changing the rhythm every few seconds. He
unsealed his mouth and let out an air bubble. He opened his eyes and
focused them on the white ceiling and the yellowness of the bathroom
light. It was blurry. His eyes started to sting and he could feel
them getting red from the chlorine. He blinked a couple times. It was
the only movement he now allowed himself. He was holding still so
that the motion of his body wouldn't cause the water to plop. All he
wanted to hear was the murmuring tap. He turned his brain off and it
became blank. Clean.
Mark felt strangely
disconnected from his body. He could still feel the little wavy
movement of the water on his skin. It was like silk. Almost not
there. Invisible shield. His
lungs started filling up with water. It slowly creeped in tingling
his insides. It was painful at first but then it didn't matter. He
was lying there defencelessly with no protection on hand. He took a
deep watery breath and closed his eyes.
It was like he had fallen
asleep.
