Dying Eyes of the Dead

We stood on the boat, drowned in the blackness of the night’s sky, too afraid to even inhale the air our lungs screamed out for.
I looked up at the black before me and mouthed a silent prayer, unsure of whether God himself could see –or hear- through this blackened sky.
My ears bled from the silence and I knew the others were suffering too.
All but one.
You stood there your arms slowly rising as if you were Neptune ready to command the sea itself.
I knew then you’d be the first to die. Your foolishness, your bravado would be the end of you.
A cold sensation crept up through my toes and clawed its way through my trembling body.
I could smell death in the air and as the sea rocked with anticipation, it laughed mocking us.
The liquid devil lay beneath just. . . waiting.
My knees felt weak and I began to buckle under the strain, I fell to my feet unable to stand death’s lingering presence.The sea rocked forward, smirking at my weakness, as the others came running towards me, uttering useless words of cold comfort.
I stared hard at the faces around me, searching but your face still was not there.
Had the sky stolen you away? Had the sea finally taken you from me? No, you stood erect, full of feigned courage. I knew than you'd be the first to die.
I knew because I'd seen it in your eyes.
You were scared, just like I was.
But you chose not to bury yourself in despair and stay resigned to a watery fate but to rise up and fight the futile fight.
But you’d never fight for me.
The one person who’d do everything for you, you’d never fight for.
Tears stained the face that I once owned, as my mutilated heart pounded against my chest, almost crushing the bones evolution created to protect it.