And then there was Nothing

The colour was completely wrong
not blue
or even a sea foam green
but a dish soap black
I thought the sea was supposed to be a postcard
not a widow’s empty home
It was noiseless:
no birds cawing or waves murmuring
The static sky, lukewarm sand
and especially the water
was flat
I was half expecting for the sky to spit ash on me
and then it did
my timid campfire died out
everything smelled of salt and shadow
I suddenly remembered how much I missed my parents