you put me on & said i was your favourite
Water slaps hard against the bone bridge, and behind them the surf howls—not with wind, but with something meaner. Flora hears it before she sees it: the shriek of suctioned teeth parting, the guttural churn of something breaching. She doesn't look back—can’t—but she feels the vibration thunder through the soles of her sandals, a wave of pressure chasing her heels like a heartbeat made of jaws.
"Go, go, go—!" she shouts, voice ragged with exertion, not realizing that Soh was the one waiting on her.
They're running again, shadows peeling off them like ribbons, the last few spans of bone thudding underfoot. Flora doesn't even register the ache in her legs until solid ground hits, the grassy field beyond the bridge rising up in front of her like salvation. She skids to a stop just past the threshold, heels dragging in the dirt, and spins to check behind—another delphinid launches itself out of the water. Its form twists midair like a skinned eel wrapped in shark teeth, the void clinging to it like oil. It slithers half up onto the bridge, body slapping wetly against the bone walkway.
"Go, go, go—!" she shouts, voice ragged with exertion, not realizing that Soh was the one waiting on her.
They're running again, shadows peeling off them like ribbons, the last few spans of bone thudding underfoot. Flora doesn't even register the ache in her legs until solid ground hits, the grassy field beyond the bridge rising up in front of her like salvation. She skids to a stop just past the threshold, heels dragging in the dirt, and spins to check behind—another delphinid launches itself out of the water. Its form twists midair like a skinned eel wrapped in shark teeth, the void clinging to it like oil. It slithers half up onto the bridge, body slapping wetly against the bone walkway.
