glancing at the throbbing walls of waves, i try to figure out where i am. the memories within my crumpled aluminium frame jolt to the surface. i feel the warmth of a child’s fingers against me. the next second, i’m soaring into the sky, then falling into an abyss of murkiness. 

 

i hear a low, sinister rumble from behind me. i can’t remember where i last felt this thrumming sensation before, like thunder about to rip the sky apart. maroon shadows of boats approach, their arched tin roofs stare at me, the tires tied to their decks so close they almost collapse on me.

 

suddenly, snakes of rattan lash across my back. they push me down into the mud-coloured aquatic whirlwind and curl around me, instantly taking me prisoner. the rumble is deafening now, devouring me like the waves do. i search for signs of the shore, but all i see are the shapeless sheets of pulp surround me. i imagine the firm cardboard slabs, the ruffled rainbow of plastic bags, stray sandals that once lined this net, now replaced by mangled and rotting carcasses, hurled around by the currents on a route leading nowhere. if i don’t escape, that’s how i’ll end up. i swallow my disgust and focus on thrashing my way out.

 

the more rope i extricate myself from, the more fiercely the waves leap up. i think of all the time seeping through the net’s holes, snatched from me by the waters. eventually i stop struggling, resigning myself to my fate of floating around, bound to a net, never to be found again.

 

at that moment, i catch sight of warehouses by the harbour. boats like pull in, unloading crates before docking nearby. The whirring grinds to a halt, as i drift closer to the shore. people mill the harbour carrying the crates, yelling in a plethora of strange but familiar tongues.

 

a glimmer of recognition wells up in my chest - by some miracle i’ve arrived back home. capsules of iridescent water roll into my half-opened mouth. compared to the stale water curling its fist around me, its life-giving sweetness floods my metal veins like hope — something so pure birthed from something so putrid.