It is 4:53PM everywhere.

He was running when he felt the ground slip out from beneath him, giving way to the ocean below.

Hubert had been running through the backwoods, darting between trees and barreling over long roots reaching out to the little light reaching the ground between the leaves above him. Every few steps, he would cast a glance over his shoulder to see if his pursuer had abandoned the chase. His thundering heart hides the sounds of the monster behind him.

Then, the ground was gone, and he watched as the water below him raged onwards.

Many of the others in his small town, mostly men around his age and a bit older, had gone cliff diving when they had first arrived in town. Hubert had never dared, mostly because he loved the thrill of a necessary danger. What joy could he get from putting himself somewhere just to die?

Teleported, it seems, from the woods to the water, he feels his heart to stone, causing him to plunge quicker towards the ocean below. In the few seconds he stays suspended in the air, crashing through the cold breeze towards the rising tides, he thinks of Élise. He thinks of her cold fingertips, like the roots of the tree, reaching for something that is not good for them. Attempting to grasp not just the impossible, but the dastardly. How is he both the tree and the sky?

He hits the water, and thinks of himself as a chopped log, heading back on the water to Europe.

~~~

Beverly watches the sunset on the pier. It has always been beautiful, but never quite as magical as it is tonight. Even on the coldest day of the year, when the sun sets the earliest, the water is not icy. The sun seems to burst across the waves, reflecting red and orange hues. If it weren't impossible, she'd think the world was on fire.

As she pulls herself up, her feet somehow manage to slip on the scratchy wooden steps. She falls into the ocean, feet first. Her closes way her down and she begins to thrash as her body tries desperately to kick beneath the heavy wooden fabric, but she feels herself slipping down into the dark waters below her, the colour of the sun disappearing.

~~~

The workday is about to finish. Maverick sits at his desk, fiddling with his watch. He hopes that his father doesn't step into the room and see the mountain of papers stacked precariously on his desk. Perhaps he can escape before anyone notices, although Maverick doesn't know where he is escaping too.

He spots water seeping through the pages. He blinks, then looks down to see if his cup of water has spilt. His desk is dry, but the papers grow soggy. Maverick stands but feels his feet slip on the wet floor. Rather than hit the ground, he finds himself surrounded by water.

~~~

The easiest place for Clara to hide from her husband is in the bath. So, she sits outside of it with the water running, still fully clothed, waiting for her husband to return from work. She has a book in her hands. It's one of his (since he won't let her buy her own). The book is boring and dull, but it is something to do besides mending his clothing.

Water hits her feet, and she jolts herself upright. The tub has begun to overflow, water rushing from the white marble tub onto the brand new linoleum floor. Though it only trickles out of the tap, the water rises. Clara runs over to the tub and begins to turn off her faucet, but the water is already knee-deep.

As it moves up to her waist, she moves to the door, but it seems locked from the outside. She has to hold her breath and duck under the water to search for a comb, to try to pick the lock, but it is too late. Clara is sucked in the undertow.

~~~

Flo lifts the lipstick to her face, carefully to outline her Cupid's bow with the steady hands of a surgeon. She glances at herself in the mirror, frustrated that red isn't her colour even though it is so in. No, she looks better in lilac and pink, in the soft pastels of Paris, rather than the boldness of New York. Although, her French was never quite that good, and English looks fine coming out her crimson lips.

When she stands up, she feels faint. Her favourite dress has been getting tighter as she has aged, so she had decided not to eat today. Avoiding bloat, after all, is paramount when going to a party to meet with the biggest fashion moguls of the century. Perhaps the diziness wasn't worth it though, as she ends up holding her pounding head, reaching desperately for the edge of her vanity. Instead, she finds herself grabbing fistfuls of water. She barely manages to close her mouth before they fill her lungs.

~~~

It is not atypical for Adwin to fall asleep at his desk. After all, classes run too long, and if you want to teach children anything proper (that is, the children who aren't at work in the nearby fields). Adwin wants nothing more than to help them, but his accent, thick and jagged, like spreading crunchy peanut butter across burnt toast, causes parents to head for the hills. Though the events of the war are over, the anger is not.

He wakes up with a snort as he chokes on water. The forces sends his seat flying backwards, dragging him down into the body of rushing water.

~~~

Sometimes, Mickey sees things that aren't there. More often than not, he hears things: the cry of a woman, the sound of a grenade going off, or the voice of his commander screaming. Usually at night, but sometimes in the day. As a child, he would sometimes hear someone calling out his name. Hallucinations and memories seem to blur into each other for Mickey.

Still, he begins to panic as the whole world fills with water. He was taking a stroll at the park, when he felt himself wading ankle-deep. He can feel its cool kiss now, like the tongue of a dog licking his ankles. No one else seemed perturbed by it, By the time the water hit Mickey's chest, his breath had grown shaky. He tilts his head upwards, trying to contain as much oxygen as he can, as the water takes him over.

~~~

Behind the stage, Tim does warm-up exercises. He blows air out of his mouth, hums his lips together, and does musical scales. The people on the production team carefully sidestep around him. Tim adjusts the collar of his shirt, When he watches one of the many girls on the team blow past, he bites his lip. She blushes, and so he smirks.

He takes a step closer to her, hearing the splash of a puddle. He looks down at the ground and puts his hands on his lips. "Will someone clean this up?"

The puddle is massive, and it blocks the way to the stage. He groans. Tim has never considered murder (at least not seriously) but he is frustrated enough with his wet shoes to strangle the culprit and then himself.

He takes a step forward and falls through the floor into the ocean.

~~~

Alvaro is hiding. His body is cramped inside the closet of a man who owes the boss money. It's too dark to check his watch, and he's been hiding for half an hour now. To pass the time, Alvaro fiddles with the gun in his hand.

He hears a sound on the other side of the door. Footsteps, then a door shuts. Alvaro can hear the man ruffle his clothes, no doubt loosening his tie. So, Alvaro strikes.

Leaping out of the closet, he tackles the man. The two land on the ground, with Alvaro on top. Alvaro leans back to shoot, but the man gets the best of him. He knocks him off his back, and when Alvaro stumbles, he feels the pull of water around him.

~~~

If there is something worse than working at a café, someone needs to let Ivy know because then she will feel better about her jobs. Her feet hurt from the gruelling work of standing for twelve hours on end, and her hand stings from where she split coffee all over herself. Thinking about her future freedom does not even provide her solace.

So, she collapses on her bed. The blue sheets splash around her like a wave. She expects to sink into the mattress, and she does.

~~~~~

Well, this is exciting! The rest of the story is going to be quite exciting. We are on pause until the relationships are done though, basically.

But argh, I'm so excited. Please let me know if I wrote your character wrong (I know it's kind of difficult in this chapter, but still). I'm really committed to getting the characters right. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!