Relapse

As the earth below her continued to shake and the fog became thicker, she began to let her mind wander. It was all she should could really do with it drawing so close to her.

As her eyelids fluttered shut, the mist that was hanging pungently in the air began to invade her nostrils. Immediately her mind ran with the smell, transporting her back to a single moment from her childhood - when she was on another beach, surrounded by sea mist - barefoot in the waves.

It felt so real - like she was back in that moment. She was running through the waves, away from something - unaware of what it was. She tried her best to remember what was behind her. She willed herself to turn her head in the past, to see what was back there - but her memory wouldn't obey her command. It just kept running forward. She remembered the spittle of rain drenched her face and her feet hurt. She was scared, but she didn't know why. Her little lungs burned - fear driving them to suck in more air than she could - to not become tired.

It felt so real. She was cold. She was tired. Her feet felt wet. Opening her eyes, she realized all these feelings were true. The mist was now thick enough to create a layer of precipitation on her skin and the water had risen enough to engulf her feet. She could feel it rising, from the edge of her toes, creeping towards the ankle. It was making the tide shift.

She was scared. The hairs on the back of her neck wanted to stand up, but they were matted down from the thick, heavy air. She realized the ground had stopped shaking.

The air was still - enough to almost make her choke.

But the trees that lined the shore behind her, through the mist, unseen, were rustling.

It was here. It had caught up to her.