The wave wanted me and was going to keep thrashing me in the darkness until I finally gave up and breathed in. What amazed me was how malevolent the whole thing seemed—Me? Why do you want me? I was young and had no idea the world killed people so casually. Oddly, I remembered that there was a pile of dirty dishes in my sink that someone was going to have to deal with. Files and notes for a book I hoped to write on my desk. Work clothes scattered across the floor. My parents lived a hundred miles away, and I was essentially camping out in their summer house to write my book.
