The Drowning Clock

Black Water (Joyce Carol Oates Edition)

This flow traces the physical and psychological escalation of Kelly Kelleher’s struggle for air from the crash to her death.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Impact and Disorientation Impact and Disorientation from "Black Water". Time Breaks Apart The collision The Rented Toyota hits the guardrail and plunges into Indian Creek.

Impact and Disorientation from "Black Water". Time Breaks Apart The collision The Rented Toyota hits the guardrail and plunges into Indian Creek.

Time Breaks Apart The collision The Rented Toyota hits the guardrail and plunges into Indian Creek. Kelly Kelleher cannot immediately understand where she is or which way the car has turned. A mind under shock The crash produces gaps in memory and a distorted sense of time. Physical danger is immediate, while clear comprehension arrives only in fragments.

The Water Enters The Water Enters from "Black Water". The Cabin Floods Cold, dirty water Black water surges over the vehicle and into the damaged cabin.

The Water Enters from "Black Water". The Cabin Floods Cold, dirty water Black water surges over the vehicle and into the damaged cabin.

The Cabin Floods Cold, dirty water Black water surges over the vehicle and into the damaged cabin. It smells of sewage and oil, sharply unlike the transparent water Kelly Kelleher knows. Pain delayed Her leg and ribs are injured, but shock keeps pain strangely distant. The lack of sensation offers no safety; her body is already pinned within the sinking car.

The Air Pocket The Air Pocket from "Black Water". A Small Reserve Searching for breath Kelly Kelleher finds an air pocket and tries to keep her mouth within it.

The Air Pocket from "Black Water". A Small Reserve Searching for breath Kelly Kelleher finds an air pocket and tries to keep her mouth within it.

A Small Reserve Searching for breath Kelly Kelleher finds an air pocket and tries to keep her mouth within it. She calculates where the steering wheel and possible exits should be despite being nearly blind. A temporary reprieve The air bubble offers time but not rescue. Its changing size turns each breath into a reminder that the water is still rising.

Strength Against Metal Strength Against Metal from "Black Water". Fighting the Entrapment A damaged body Kelly Kelleher tries to pull free, using the steering wheel as leverage.

Strength Against Metal from "Black Water". Fighting the Entrapment A damaged body Kelly Kelleher tries to pull free, using the steering wheel as leverage.

Fighting the Entrapment A damaged body Kelly Kelleher tries to pull free, using the steering wheel as leverage. Her right leg is caught in twisted metal, and she cannot reliably feel or move her foot. Effort as will She continues with her remaining strength, refusing to think about injuries she cannot control. The struggle becomes a narrow contest between muscle, water, and the limits of her body.

The Air Is Gone The Air Is Gone from "Black Water". Final Loss of Breath A last appeal Kelly Kelleher calls for help and imagines being found, while the remaining air becomes harder to reach.

The Air Is Gone from "Black Water". Final Loss of Breath A last appeal Kelly Kelleher calls for help and imagines being found, while the remaining air becomes harder to reach.

Final Loss of Breath A last appeal Kelly Kelleher calls for help and imagines being found, while the remaining air becomes harder to reach. Her thoughts shift among present danger, remembered family, and visions of rescue. Death in the wreck The water fills her lungs and Kelly dies. The story’s final crisis is both a physical drowning and the ending of the future she had been rehearsing.

Around 8:15 p.m. on the Fourth of July

The first minutes underwater

After the vehicle settles underwater

Later during the struggle

Near the end of Kelly’s ordeal