Holding the bottle in one hand I crack the top, carbonated liquid fizzing to the top with a hiss,

stray bubbles spitting at my hand. I press the rim to my lips, sucking the liquid out and
swallowing it in big mouthfuls, the sugar splashing in waves on my teeth, making them tingle.
At night I sometimes feel like I can hear the sizzling sound of the liquid, and phantom sugar
soaking in and ripping my teeth apart. Maybe I should drink more water or not have skipped
that dentist appointment last Thursday. Some people have told me stories of these fizzy drinks
rotting their teeth down to stubs, and I've even had nightmares of the sweet smiling child on
the label pulling my teeth out with a wrench; but somehow I always end up here, a cold one in
my hand watching the boats in the harbour drift on.

The water is inviting. The crisp blue liquid moves slowly towards the sun, which skips along the
ripples. I swallow another mouthful of addicting liquid that fades away as quickly as it came,
leaving me with an empty bottle like many times before. I look down at my watch, the clock
face showing that it's almost three o'clock, I'm early. I lay my head down on the concrete
waiting setting the alarm for three-thirty, closing my eyes, just listening for now. The hot
concrete prickles the skin on the small of my back which touches it directly. It had been a hot
day today but not the hottest I've experienced but enough to call for a cropped shirt. Slowly my
skin stings under the hot grip, and I'm slowly regretting getting comfortable on such an
unpleasant surface. I try to listen to the water in the harbour, but it's quiet today, the only
sounds coming from the nearby restaurants. People crowd the tables no realising this harbour
holds a secret, a sort of magic that serves as a gateway to another world only accessible
through a glass bottle. It sound's insane, many phenomena are, but I promise it's real.

I look out onto the water watching the world from a new perspective. It's not as different as
you would think, the water is still flowing, the sun still shining and I'm still alone. I check my
watch, three twenty- five. It's almost time. I get to my feet slowly moving towards the edge of
the water, the empty bottle in my hand. I slip my shoes off, trying to walk carefully across the
wooden dock being careful not to get a splinter. When I sit down, my watch rings out over the
water. It's time. I sit with my feet in the cold water, the empty bottle in one hand. I raise it to
my left eye and close my right, putting the rim to it. Small dribbles of sticky liquid pools under
my eye but I'm used to it. I take a deep breath as I watch the ripples through the transparent
bottle. The sun moves an inch igniting the ripples in the water; my heart starts beating fast, my
breath caught in my throat. I watch as he walks across the beam of light, holding his hand out
to me. It's time.