Why do I stare so deeply into these watery depths? The water… it calls to me, lures me into the deep recesses from which there is no escape. I’ve been there before. The dark is merely a cover; it is a veil that hides the true horror of the abyss.

I can hear the whispering of the sirens, calling to me. “Come closer,” they whisper. The sound is inaudible to the men bustling around me. Only I can hear them. They are speaking to me; no one else can listen to these words tonight.

I feel myself lean towards the railing. I can not control it. Why? Why me? So many men are aboard this ship; why do they want me? I beg the sirens to let me go, to no avail. My death is indubitable.

I regain some meager portion of control, and fall back away from the railing. Below deck, I hear men screaming. It seems many more than I will die tonight.

I peer back into the black sea, and I see the moon’s reflection staring back at me from its perch in this somber sky. Dark clouds cover the stars. Only the moon will witness the death of the crew, and the ship. It seems a fitting night for so macabre an occasion.

I turn my attention back to the deck, the screams of my shipmates ringing in my ears. Apathy is all I can feel; I am emotionally drained. We are all going to fall today.

A shriek pierces my thoughts; I recognize the sound as the hunting call of the sirens. They are closing in, already feeling victorious.

A hand falls on my shoulder. I look into the devastated eyes of the ship’s captain. “I’m sorry, James. So sorry.”

A clawed hand appears behind the captain’s head. I make a grab for him, but the distance between us stretches until he is out of my grasp. I attempt to shout, but my voice betrays me. I watch helplessly as a siren draws itself out of the water behind my old friend. I turn away from the scene; I cannot bear to watch for another moment.

I cower amidst the chaos, my hands over my face. Something is terribly wrong. A sense of deja-vu pervades my thoughts. “So sorry, James.”

The captain’s final screams fade away to silence. My blood roars in my ears so that I can no longer hear the war around me. “So sorry.”

The dark abyss of the ocean toward which the sirens call me… I’ve been there before. The memories are etched in my mind, and yet there is no escape. “Sorry, James.”

A shadow looms over my whimpering form. I look into the sadistic eyes of my nightmarish fiend. The siren placed his clawed hands on my shoulders. I closed my eyes tightly, and turned my head away from my imminent doom. The world fades to black as the siren tears my soul from my body.




I jolt awake to find myself on the rail of the ship. I must have fallen asleep. I can’t remember the dream I was having, but I don’t think it was a pleasant one.

I stare at the moon’s reflection in the water. Dark clouds cover the stars, making the sky feel so somber.

I stare into the rippling waves of the ocean below and feel myself sinking into them. Why? Why do I stare so deeply into these watery depths? The water… it calls to me, lures me into the deep recesses from which there is no escape. I’ve been there before.