A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography by Lisa Fedele. All jewellery by Margherita Potenza. Models are Paul van der Leendeerst and Stephanie Smit. Makeup and hair by Jenna Albertus at Colourfool Agency.
The low waves were hitting his calves lightly, while the sun was already drying the salty water drops on his shoulders. The dunes were there, silently staring at him, while the chemical plant was looking away, sitting triumphantly at the far end of the beach. No one else in sight. The rest-of-them were further in; way further inland. The idea that it was unlikely they would run into anybody was, at the same time, relieving and discomforting. Why did they even come up here? His head was aching, the gills on his forehead were sore. He turned toward her, hoping she had changed her mind. But she was peering in the stray bushes, in search of something unclear. The glittering of her chain reminded him of the reason for their visit. The metal, that’s what they were after. It was what kept them safe underwater – their pendants, their rings, their trinkets – it seemed to ward away the big fish. Back when they left the dryland, these were the only things they had brought with them. They held them on the day they dived and didn’t want to part with them.
They had been underwater for a relatively short time and were still adapting to the ecosystem of the deep sea. Underwater everything was different, just as they’d hoped. No system to fit, no role to play, no measurement for success or failure other than the mere fact of being alive, fending for themselves and getting fed from their own drive to survive. They lived in small groups, sometimes drifting apart to look for food but always returning to their den – it was dangerous to be on one’s own for too long. It hadn’t been an easy choice, but no one regretted it. Life above had felt blind, desperately anachronistic, out of touch from the fires burning all around. They were told to keep on going, stick to the way things were because stepping out of that path would have been suicidal. And that’s what they did, or at least they tried to do until it became clear that business-as-usual was what was going to kill them.
There had been rumours that a drug synthesised from rays’ venom was going around, and those who used it for long enough were developing a skin rash which eventually turned into a gill-like membrane. More and more people were turning to the idea of diving in to finally escape the hamster-wheel of their lives, so they started experimenting with quantities and uses of the ray drug. Eventually, someone found the right mode: let the venom dry into a dark powder and then tattoo it onto the skin so the body could slowly adjust to the substance and adapt to its long-term effects. The venom would kick in causing a paralysis, softening into days-long hallucinations, dotted with short moments of epiphany – a feeling of wisdom and clearness about a new life to come, underwater. It was through these psychedelic glimpses that people could find out how, when and with whom to make their transition into the water. So once all the details had been collected and the remaining ties with the dryland had been cut, they felt ready, he and she, and decided to dive. On a greyish afternoon, they took their car to the beach, left it behind the dunes and started climbing to reach the shore. They barely made it to the water. The drug had damaged their lungs and they choked from the physical effort. Once they touched the brownish waters they passed out, waking up several hours later, when the rolling waves had drawn them in and pushed them deep down to the bottom of the sea.
So here they were again, stepping cautiously out of the low water. The landscape looked as if they never left, unchanged in an uncanny way. Everything was in place in a fake manner, leaving them with a sense of threat, like some sort of trap had been hidden behind the seeming untouched bushes. He reached the dry sand feeling dizzy from being out of the water. Approaching the dunes, a breath of wind blew on his shoulders and a faint smell of saltiness itched his nose. It hadn’t yet occurred to him that his sense of smell had been shut since he dived, and now this stink of brackish water took him by surprise. While he was thinking she had already knelt down in the bushes, moving the rushes around in search of the jewels. ‘They should be somewhere in here’ she said, feeling short-breathed. He joined her on the ground, going through the grass with his hands and pushing his fingers inside the sand mounds. The sky was clear above them and their bodies were getting warm under the sun – a pale light, but enough of a threat to these two creatures, exposed and out of place.
Almost an hour had passed and they hadn’t found anything. ‘They’ve gone… we won’t find them’ he told her in a sigh. ‘We must! We owe it to the others…’ she uttered with the little energy she had left. He kept quiet, looking at his hands. His headache was worse and he couldn’t keep his eyes fully open anymore. He laid on the warm sand for a moment and so did she, nervous and discouraged. She was out of breath, but not yet ready to give up her task. They did owe it to the others. They wouldn’t have lasted long underwater. The others had found them half-conscious, floating around like jellyfishes; the others gave them shelter, taught them to hunt and to navigate the seafloor. Bonded by their tattoos, they shared the same despair on the dryland and the same hope underwater – theirs truly was a small tribe.
Inhaling with her nose as much as she could, she looked up in the distance: a blue sky, like a thick blanket laid on them. A blow of wind brought a cloud in her sight – a fluffy roll of cotton flying about. On the dryland, she used to spend hours daydreaming, watching the clouds pass by. But she couldn’t see them anymore underwater. She closed her eyes, with a heavy feeling in her chest. ‘I miss the life above sometimes’ she said. ‘The trees, the animals… the familiar things’. ‘But none of that exists anymore’ he replied, with a low voice. ‘I know’. While saying this, a fit of pain hit her meninx. Her forehead had gone almost completely dry and the skin was peeling off. He looked at her, alarmed. ‘We need to go back’. But she was too faint to move. Gathering all his energy, he stood up and grabbed her from under her shoulders and pulled her toward the sea. With an extreme effort, he reached the water edge and fell with a loud splash. They spent a few minutes immobile, as if dead, reabsorbing oxygen and minerals with their permeable skin.
With her face down toward the bottom, she opened her eyes. She could see a slight glittering in the sand. She moved her arms to swim and the echo of her movement in the sand uncovered something that looked like golden shells. She looked at them intently – just below her was a bunch of small conches with glittering yellow shades. She instinctively picked one up and felt a strong pull from under her flesh toward the conch. It slipped in place on the tip of her finger, as if that was exactly where it should sit. She had a jolt of surprise and a few seconds later she felt a quiver go through her arm. Suddenly she was released from the tiredness that had been holding her – she was refilled with strength, lighter and quicker in the water. While she stared at her palm, he swam toward her. ‘What is it?’ he asked worriedly. He took her hand to inspect the small plate and noticed an inscription on it. ‘BCH… that’s the name of the chemical plant at the end of the beach’ he whispered, moving around the sand below him to discover more bits Inadvertently he stepped on a larger piece, which attached to his foot. As soon as he felt it slipping on his heel, a vibration caught his leg, like a gentle electric pulse. He pulled on the conch trying to get it off, but the plate stuck to his skin as if a magnetic force had formed between them. He was holding his foot, puzzled and weary when she leaned her chin on his shoulder and kissed his neck. ‘I think we found what we came for’.
So they turned away and swam on.
by Margherita Potenza © 2020 all right reserved
Photography by Lisa Fedele / www.fedelelisa.com / Instagram: @diariofotographico
Models are Paul van der Leendeerst and Stephanie Smit / www.giek_1.com / Instagram: @giek_1
MUA and hair by Jenna Albertus at Colourfool Agency / Instagram: @jenna.makeupartist
Jewellery by Margherita Potenza / www.margheritapotenza.com / Instagram: @margherita_potenza
