The sea was washed away in the darkness. It was the thick, unshakable kind of darkness, where you open your eyes as wide as they’ll go to be able to see something.

The street lamps threw their dim yellow light in tight circles away from the shore. We ran under this light, fixing our gaze on a faraway defunct ship with a red light. That’s where we had to run to.

It was chilly in parts. Through those parts we ran faster, to get rid of the goose bumps. In some parts, we saw slivers of star light through the black blanket. It was amusing, as though the star was peeking out into the forbidden land.

By the time we got to the ship, we were out of breath. The darkness had lifted and we stood staring at the pink-blue sky, clutching our sides and panting.

We walked back in a begrudging manner. The sea had come out of its slumber. Somewhere behind us at the distance, the red blinking light on the ship was nowhere to be seen.