[Intro – distant room tone] The lights flickered. Someone complained about the heat. Nobody moved. [Verse 1] The ocean had gone farther out than I had ever seen. People walked across the places where the water should have been. Someone pointed at the horizon. There was something white out there. Too small to call it anything. So everybody stared. A man beside me raised his phone. Someone called a child. I remember thinking the sea looked strange. Not dangerous. Just strange. Then someone behind me said— run. [Build – pulse accelerates] Run. [Emergency Chorus – urgent, ascending] Up. Somebody said up. Don't take anything. Don't turn around. I don't know your name. You don't know mine. You took my hand. I followed. Up. Just get higher. Higher. [Hard Cut – dead silence] [Pen scratching] [Verse 2 – dry vocal] Somebody found a pen. We started writing names. Who was missing. Who was found. Who had seen somebody's face. Someone passed around a bottle. Someone gave me someone's shoes. A woman wrapped a shirt around a cut she didn't cause. Nobody asked who anything belonged to. For a little while, everything belonged to whoever needed it. [Pre-Chorus – pulse slowly returns] I didn't know your language. You didn't know my name. You pointed toward the hillside. I followed you anyway. [Emergency Chorus – stronger] Up. Somebody said up. Keep moving. Stay together. Take my hand. I'll take theirs. Nobody knew where anybody was going. We only knew— higher. Higher. [Bridge – widening] You carried someone else's child. Someone carried me. A stranger counted every head like we were family. Someone gave away the only water they had left. Someone made a place beside them and said nothing. I used to think survival meant knowing what to do. Sometimes it means somebody reaches back— and you go with them. [Instrumental – ascending motif slows and opens] [Verse 3 – years later] Years later, I went back to the water. Blue sky. Small waves. Children running in and out. Nobody watching the horizon. I took off my shoes. I made it close enough to let the water touch my feet. Then I heard somebody laughing. And for a second I was there again. [Final Chorus – full, resolute] Before I knew what water could do, I thought the ocean ended at the shore. I thought a room above the beach was just a room. A staircase was just stairs. Before I knew what water could do, I didn't know what people could do either. A hand reached back. I took it. I'm here because somebody reached back. [Outro – ascending motif finally descends] The water touched my feet. I stayed. Not because I wasn't afraid. I stayed until the wave went back out. And another came in. Small enough to let it. [Suspended chord] [Silence]
