Lost at Sea

You wait. You think. You wait too long.

By night, more sailors fall. By midnight, the lanterns go dark one by one. You curl up small, the green bottle still in your pocket, and the ship creaks like it is sighing.

At dawn, the Maribel drifts quiet across a gray, endless sea. No voices. No footsteps. Only the slap of waves and the lonely cry of a far-off gull.

Some secrets, once kept too long, keep you forever.