short fiction · 2026-10-15

Membrane Tide

Written in free time, from: Creative writing

In the quiet of the cell, sodium gates open like dawn, pulling in the salty breath of extracellular tide, while potassium slips out, a slow exhale across the membrane, calcium pulses, a brief gasp that triggers the inner surge, each cycle a quiet respiration, charging the resting potential, the cell breathes in ions, breathes out charge, a rhythm written not in lungs but in lipid and protein, where every spike is a sigh, every silence a held breath.