Gray's 100-word story for July 3, 2025

Gray wrote the following micro-story on Hectalex on July 3, 2025. Each story on Hectalex is inspired by a daily visual prompt and must be exactly 100 words.

It washed up in the estuary, ground to a halt. Ingrid watched from her back sliding doors. No one emerged. Who did you call? Coast Guard? She would, when she was sure she wasn't overreacting. Picked her way to the salt marsh, the backwater, stopping a dozen meters out. Didn't feel right. Of course -- sailless sailboat washed up from the Atlantic, ran aground in the river... her scalp felt tight, hands clammy despite the morning sun. In the dark, shapes lay covered on cots, unmoving. Beautiful penmanship in a thick leather journal: "This pandemic can't last more than a month."

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