Letting the coastal towns die was the kindest thing to do. It gave us the time we needed to fortify ourselves against the things the tide brought in and to steel ourselves against the pain that came when the tide left and took so much with it.
Over three million declared dead and it still wasn't enough. They weren't enough and the sea came back for more and more every single day til we feared that there'd be nothing left of us but our bones and yet we continued to barricade and dig and build and try every last thing to keep the sea away.
While others dug deep into the earth, we made self-sustaining skycraft. Water collection, waste recycling, gardens, slaughterhouses - everything to keep a densely packed population alive and well above the sea. All we had to remember is not to look down at everything we'd left behind.
We'd see people reaching out to us moments before the waves hit them and swept them away to join the rest of the country. If the wind was right we'd be able to hear them crying and screaming and begging us for help that we wouldn't give.
How could we endanger the thousands of lives onboard for the sake of a handful of people below? It was one of the countless times we had to focus on the numbers and not the crippling guilt from letting more people die when we had the space and resources to take care of them.
But there were always too many of us and too few of them to risk it. Now we've been drifting over partially submerged mountains without so much as a flicker of movement from below, save for the fish and all that lurk with them.
Not a human in sight for miles, save for us.
Over three million declared dead and it still wasn't enough. They weren't enough and the sea came back for more and more every single day til we feared that there'd be nothing left of us but our bones and yet we continued to barricade and dig and build and try every last thing to keep the sea away.
While others dug deep into the earth, we made self-sustaining skycraft. Water collection, waste recycling, gardens, slaughterhouses - everything to keep a densely packed population alive and well above the sea. All we had to remember is not to look down at everything we'd left behind.
We'd see people reaching out to us moments before the waves hit them and swept them away to join the rest of the country. If the wind was right we'd be able to hear them crying and screaming and begging us for help that we wouldn't give.
How could we endanger the thousands of lives onboard for the sake of a handful of people below? It was one of the countless times we had to focus on the numbers and not the crippling guilt from letting more people die when we had the space and resources to take care of them.
But there were always too many of us and too few of them to risk it. Now we've been drifting over partially submerged mountains without so much as a flicker of movement from below, save for the fish and all that lurk with them.
Not a human in sight for miles, save for us.
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