MS-0009 · The Interim · card 2 of 7
Undertow
Nothing below means him harm, and he fights every inch of the way down.
- Element
- Water
- Tense
- Present, unresolved
- The hand
- That could not take
The card
He is being drawn downward and he is fighting it, though nothing in the water means him harm. The sprites hold his sleeve and cuff with small hands and swim ahead of him, unhurried and affectionate, leading him the way children lead an adult who has forgotten how to be led. Far below, something warm is already lit and waiting — he is not being pulled into nothing, he simply cannot see where he is going while he is still looking up. This card names the descending phase of healing and insists the terror belongs to the one descending, not to the depth.
To sit with
What are you fighting only because you can't see yet where it leads?
What would it feel like to let yourself be led for a while?
Related cards
BethesdaThe card before.Healing is already under his hand, and he has lain here so long he no longer knows if he wants it.
BuoyancyThe next card.The water would hold him up, and his thrashing is the only thing pulling him under.
SaltFurther on.He came out of the water with a few grains in his hand, and nothing tells him whether it is enough.