The Tide Tax

The Tide Tax

Mercedes Pelayes

04/23/2026

The Tier Towers in the distance swayed like they were unsure whether they belonged to the sky or the sea anymore. I stood still. Watching the water rise from a window on Level 5. And I thought, “I always wondered what the view from up here looked like.”

“Level 2, the tide is rising. Please, stay clear of the edge.”

The alerts rang throughout the canals as they usually do. It echoed through the metal poles and created ripples in the water. Everyone going about their business. The blaring sound blending into the morning bustle. No one seemed to stop and listen though, which honestly makes sense. There was too much to do to care about some water rising. That was just how we lived. Down here on Level 2, warnings didn't interrupt life. They were life.

I tightened the last bolt on the scrap pillar, leaning against it to see if it would hold against my weight. The metal groaned a long, low sound but it didn't budge. Seemed good enough to me. It seems I'm always having to fix something around here ever more often. I wonder if mom is holding off okay at the shop.

I hopped off my ladder onto the wet, rotting wooden planks. Below my boots, water pressed through the seams of the platform. It slipped between the planks slowly, spreading in thin, reflective lines that caught the early light. But it wasn’t flooding just yet. Hopefully, we have some time to sell before closing.

The platform is always busy with people. Some rolling out wagons with collected metal scraps from the shore or filled with spoiled stock from the day before. The stench filled the air as I walked along. However, I always try to hold my breath so as not to take it all in. It seemed the docks were rather slow though. I guess there wasn’t a good catch.

It was always hard when the men arrived with almost empty nets and barrels. At least that means I won't have to restock the coolers this morning!

I kept making my way towards the shop, lending a hand on the way if anyone needed. The platform always needs patching up anyway. Perhaps a metal slab over there, and some new wooden planks over here. It seemed Pedro and Luis were already working away. Luis was on the roof patching up some hole, while Pedro was pulling at a makeshift pulley system they had created. You know, for easier lifting.

Nearing the shop, I caught a glimpse of Ms.Etta on her rocking chair. She is always up to something, even at her old age. She always tells me how much she enjoys walking out to her front door and knit away with her special, homemade yarn. Her secret is seaweed. But I can’t tell if she was joking or not. If she’s not doing that, then she’s at the shop eating and telling stories very extravagantly. She is such a strong, joyfully spirited woman. Although her stories do seem outerworldly sometimes. Like she speaks about some wheel that spun over the water and you could see from the top, the horizon over the ocean. She might just be delirious.

The doorbell rang as I walked through the door. The smell of the fresh fish and scallops hitting me in the face and the cool air sending shivers through my body. The shop seemed a little empty today.

”Hi, mom!” I exclaimed as I removed my tool belt from my waist and wiped the oil off my hands onto my shorts.

”Araceli! ¡Te estás ensuciando toda la ropa!” She was not happy.

“It’s ok mom, don’t worry. They weren’t very clean to begin with,” I let out with a small nervous laugh.

“You are always a mess. Go out to the back and wash up. I need your help with cleaning the fish before putting them out.”

I walked to the back quickly, turned the handle, and…there was no water. No water coming out of the pipe.

“¡Mamá! No sale agua!” I shouted.

“Hay dios. The payment must have not gone through yesterday.” My mom’s face scrunched between her brows, a worried look forming.

“It’s ok mom. I’ll just go next door and ask for a bucket.”

”Okay hija, be careful. It doesn’t look too safe out there.”

I made my way back out. The wind had picked up a little, and the water that was slowly and quietly seeping through the planks were now fighting through. Avoiding the scaffolding, trying not to bump my head, I made it next door to Juanito’s. This was a rather popular food spot in town. It was small, but they made the best pastelitos. All the workers stopped here for breakfast at day break and then in the evening they would purchase some yuca and cods at our shop for dinner.

“Hello!” I said, busting through the door. “I was wondering if I could go out back and fill myself with a bucket of water. I need it for my shop next door to wash the fish.”

”¡Hola mi niña! Por supuesto, busca todo el agua que necesites.” Señor Juan exclaimed. He has known me since I was little so I figured he wouldn’t be too troubled. Señor Juan is practically my uncle. He is quite flamboyant. Loud, extravagant, and always slicking back his hair. We also can’t forget that mustache of his, it’s pretty much his staple.

I went back to the shop with my bucket full of water and helped my mother for the day.

Suddenly, the lights, AC, and coolers stopped running.

“I think that’s our sign to close for today mom.” I said tiredly.

We finished sweeping and discarding the remaining products from the day's work. As we opened the door, a gust of salty ocean air filled the shop. The wind was so strong we could hardly close the door back to lock it.

The sun was setting by now, but there was still some daylight at least. The platform gets dangerous at night. You can’t see where you’re stepping, or if there’s scaffolding waiting to hit you in the head. The most light you'll get is from the lanterns outside people’s homes or sometimes hung by rope along the planks.

Ms.Etta was at home cooking and watching over my brother. I poured a bowl of Ms.Etta’s soup and walked into my parents’ bedroom where my father laid.

“Hola papá! How are you feeling today?” I asked him while handing him the bowl.

”Much better. Thank you, Hija. I am so sorry I wasn't able to go to the shop today either. You shouldn’t have to work so hard. You should be in school.” He said sadly.

”Don’t worry, dad. I read plenty and you teach me all about math! I don’t need to go to school, when there are far more important things to do right now. Now, finish up and get your rest.” I scolded him.

I went up to my room. Some people may see it as messy. But I see it as a genius’ lair. It’s not very pretty or aesthetic but it's my space. You see, I collect antique radios. Sometimes I like to tinker with them, to see if I can make them work again.

The Gulls banned radios decades ago. They discovered that radio signals caused disruption in the air and water, causing fluctuating currents that disturbed sea life. Even so, my grandfather used to talk about listening to music as a kid through his car’s radio. I’m not sure what a car is but it must’ve been pretty great if it had a radio. My fascination with them is all their little parts and how perfectly they fit together to create a system that functions cohesively. They all work together to produce something so amazing. I wish we were more like that; more cohesive.

My bedroom walls started to rattle. The metal noise grew as the room swayed. My window was shaking as if it were to break. I got into bed, playing with a small hand radio that I had found washed up in a bush. It seemed to be in better condition than my previous finds. I turned the nobs a few times, exposing the signal wire for it to dry. I also went out of my way last week searching for anyone who had batteries, and luckily I found some. As I laid in bed facing the roof, playing with my radio, hearing it crackle and buzz, my eyes felt heavy and I fell asleep.

Click. Click, click. Click.

Click. Click, click. Click

I opened my eyes, turned to my clock, and it was 4:00am. I thought I heard something.

Click. Click, click. Click.

Click. Click, click. Click

“What is that noise?” I whispered.

It sounded once more before I realized it was coming from the radio. But how could it be picking up any signal? “It’s probably just broken”, or so I thought.

I turned it off and went back to bed. Besides, I had to wake up soon, and see what needed fixing tomorrow.

The clicks didn't stop though. I couldn’t fall back asleep. They didn’t grow any louder or any softer than the creaking of my walls. It was consistent. Persistent. I turned the knob a bit to the left, a bit to the right. But the sound kept going.

Eventually, it was time to get up and go to the shop. The platform was of course a mess. There was washed up seaweed, fish, and trash. A whole lot of it. Some of the homes had shifted. Changing as the tides changed too. The radio in my pocket kept clicking. I made my way to the shop to help my mother, following the same routine.

Suddenly, around evening, the clicking sound stopped. The silence was followed by static and then…

“Level 2, the tide is rising. Please, stay clear of the edge.”

The alert went off. “That’s impeccable timing,” I thought.

At home, the radio went quiet and I heard nothing but static whenever I turned it back on.

A few weeks had passed and nothing had changed. I followed the same routine as always but the silence of my radio only grew louder in the back of my mind. The repairs I made have been holding nicely around town and the docks were bringing in more fish this time. However, because of last month’s tide, many weren’t able to pay the Tide Tax. The tide sweeps away whatever fish is brought in, and as it lowers, the fishing grounds decrease, causing the fish to leave and seek deeper waters. No fish means there’s nothing to sell, which leads to unpaid dues.

”I am bored out of my mind, Noris!” I shout, lazily laid over the freezer standing between us.

“Maybe, you shouldn’t complain too much. Your mom might get mad if she sees you with your frown downside up.” She says, trying to distract me from my neverending boredom.

”The saying is ‘turn your frown upside down,’ and you’re right. I shouldn't really complain when things are going good lately.” I responded and sighed.

Noris is my childhood best friend. We went to the same pre-school and elementary school way back when. She lives a completely different life than me though. Her family is well-off. They have a home up on Level 3, so they rarely get any tides or water damages up there. They also don’t pay as high a Tide Tax. There’s no need to if there’s nothing for The Gulls to reconstruct. Her father is currently running for mayor up there and her mom campaigns for lower level neighborhoods all the time. I think they’re good people.

“How’s the view up there, Noris? Up on level 3.” I asked her jokingly.

”Come on now, you know it’s not much different. We just don’t flood.” Noris said in a “matter-of-factly” tone.

“As much as you want to think that Noris, your walls probably don’t creak in your sleep, leaving you with these horrid and dark eye bags!” I jokingly exclaimed, pulling at my face in annoyance to my tired complexion.

Noris lets out a laugh and so do I. It always amazes me how in sync we can be, despite our different realities. I wish the world could laugh together, instead of judgement and segregating each other because of our differences. But we all know I can’t say that out loud.

Click. Click, click. Click.

Click. Click, click. Click.

Noris looks at me confused and intrigued at what the noise was. I looked down in surprise. The radio went off again! That’s strange. It hadn’t worked all this time since then.

“Level 2, the tide is rising. Please, stay clear of the edge.”

My ears picked up on the blaring sound of alerts. My mind starts to turn and tinker. I look up at Noris with a shocked look on my face.

“Noris, I have to tell you something.” I said nervously. “A month ago, while I was playing around with one of my radios…it actually started to work and it picked up a signal, or at least I think it picked up a signal and now I'm thinking it may or may not just be coincidence but the signal goes off right before Tide Alerts.” I rambled so fast I don’t think she caught everything I was saying.

”Wait! You have a radio!? And it works?!!” Noris shouted with a dumbfounded expression.

”Don’t just yell it out loud! You don’t know who is listening!” I scolded her. “Look, I have an idea that these signals that are picked up are somehow connected to the alert system. The last time we had a tide was weeks ago, and my radio hasn’t made a peep since then. Now all of sudden it wants to work? And right before the alert went off?”

Something was amiss and I wanted to find out what exactly was causing these signals.

”Hold on Araceli, I’m still stuck on the fact you have a radio on you that works. You know you can’t have this! What if someone finds out and, and I know that you have it now! This can put my father at risk Ara! How could you be so careless as to carry around a working radio!?” A conflicting and angry tone escaping her tightened throat.

”I know! I know! But I can’t help but think this is important. I just feel it. Noris, I need your help on this and you can’t tell anybody. No one can know.” I could tell we were both now freaking out.

Noris is Currentier. Her job allows her to travel through levels as a licensed and authorised messenger of sorts. She mostly works for Level 6 or Level 7 folk who own smaller businesses in the lower levels. But I can’t. It’s against the law. Put in place to keep social order. The only way of moving up levels is by paying an unbelievable transcourse fee and purchasing a home in the desired level, as proof of status and belonging.

“Ok, Araceli. I have a friend on Level 6, his name is Dario. He might know how to help you with your new found curiosity, but I’m warning you…be careful who you speak to about this. You’re my best friend, and I would hate for something to happen to you.” Noris’ tone never sounded so serious before. Of course I understood the dangers, being that it was against the law to carry a working radio and everything, but I can’t lie that Noris’ behavior wasn’t alarming.

”Well…I can trust you, right?” My voice came out shakingly and worrisome.

“Right. Just leave it to me.” Noris said with a confident demeanor.

Noris took the radio and hid it deep within her Currentier bag. We walked outside and gave each other a long lasting hug. The salty air swirling around us. Her grip tightening on me as our last minutes together slipped away. She let go of me, with her long black hair a mess in the roaring breeze. Some strands came in front to cover her face as her eyes swelled up in tears.

I myself felt a tinge in my heart. I know that I have brought her into a dangerous and unfair situation. If she gets caught with the radio, this could ruin her family. They might even get stripped of their home and sent to Level 1.

Noris made her way to the center. This is where the Levitation Platforms were located. This was the only way of reaching the other Levels. Highly guarded, multitude of security screenings, and very very rude personnel, I must say. Of course, it wouldn’t be much trouble for Noris. All she has to do is get her Currentier ID code scanned, which is imprinted on the back of her neck. This was an extra level of security measure put in place by The Gulls. This way, nobody could just hand over their Currentier ID to the “unauthorized” population, us.

I had heard the upper levels were nothing like down here. To start, their buildings are made of mirrored glass and have 24/7 electricity from solar and hydropowered energy. They also have vertical gardens that can grow all sorts of crops. Lettuce, carrots, and who knows what else. They also don’t use boats or rafts to get from one place to another. They have Self-Mobiles. They are these specially curated capsules that take you to different zones on the upper levels. Everyone has their personal capsule. All of their discarded, broken down, or useless crap are thrown down the water systems. Of course, that means that the final destination for these thrown away items are our shores and our own water systems. We don't nearly have the same accessibility to better living than they do, but we always seem to make it work anyway.

The platform at the center always felt colder than the rest. Not because of the wind, but because of what it represented. Control. Noris stepped onto the Levitation Platform with her Currentier bag held tight against her side. The scanner above hummed as she approached, a low mechanical sound that vibrated through her teeth. Then the light flashed green.

“Approved.” A monotone female voice spoke out.

She didn’t look back. I stood at the edge of the planks watching her disappear upward, swallowed by the mist and machinery that separated our worlds. The wind tugged at my sleeves like it wanted to pull me after her.

“Be careful,” I whispered, even though she was already gone.

Noris adjusted her collar as she stepped into Level 6. The air here didn’t smell like salt and rust. It smelled… filtered. Too clean. Like nothing had ever been allowed to decay. She moved quickly, following Dario’s signal: a small blinking tag on her wrist device. The corridors were glass-lined, reflecting her back at herself from every angle. Everyone here walked like they belonged to something important.

Dario was waiting near a service junction.

“You got it?” he asked immediately.

Noris nodded once. “She’s real. The radio works.”

Before he could respond, voices echoed from the room behind him.

Noris froze.

Through the half-open door, she saw her father seated across from a man she didn’t recognize. The stranger wore a pale uniform without insignia, just a thin silver line running down his sleeve. Blueprints were spread across the table.

A diagram of the ocean. Of the lower levels. Of us.

“The failure with The Hermit was predictable,” the man said calmly. “Too unstable. Too emotional. The tide response was inconsistent.”

Noris’ father leaned forward. “And Levels 1 and 2?”

“Redundant,” the man replied. “We initiate controlled seismic output. The wave system will self-annihilate after activation. Clean displacement. The lower tiers collapse into unusable terrain, and reconstruction begins within the cycle.” The man said with his rich, low voice. Trying to persuade Noris’ father of the plans in mind.

“Reconstruction?” her father asked.

The man smiled slightly. “Vacation housing. Private coastline expansion. No remnants. Once the unusable is cleared of their so called ‘tenants’, then we can begin phase 2.”

Noris felt her stomach drop.

“The Tide Tax already softened them,” the man continued. “They’ve been conditioned to accept loss as routine. If you want to be mayor of your precious Level 3, then you’d be wise not to interfere. Let things run its course, or else you and your family can forget about all these riches and go back to the rags from which I saved you from.”

She couldn’t let her family suffer consequences that they had no part in. Her fingers tightened around the strap of her bag.

Inside it: the radio. Proof.

Dario turned slowly toward her. “Noris…”

But she was already backing away. Already running.

The map was half-decayed, edges softened by saltwater burns and ink bleed. Araceli traced the lines with her finger under a dim lantern glow.

“Old Miami…” I muttered.

Noris nodded. “Dario sent the coordinates. Said the readings match your signal patterns.”

We didn’t speak after that. We just moved. The Edge groaned as we descended into the darker layers beneath Level 2, past where the scaffolding stopped being maintained and started becoming forgotten. The water thickened. Heavier. Like it remembered everything we were trying not to.

The radio in my pocket clicked once. Then stopped.

It appeared slowly at first, like a shape forming out of memory. A structure anchored to the seabed. Metal ribs extending outward like a cage around something massive. And there it was. A machine. It pulsed faintly with a low rhythmic vibration that traveled through the water and into my bones.

On its side, the symbol. A gull in mid-flight, carved cleanly into polished metal. My breath stopped.

“The Gulls…” I thought.

Noris drifted beside me, her light shaking slightly. “They built it…”

Not just built it. Controlled it. The tide. The warnings. The cycles. The Tax. All of it.

The machine hummed again, deeper this time. Like it was aware we were there. The warning came without rhythm. No calm alert this time. Just screaming systems.

“Level 2, the tide is rising. Please, stay clear of the edge.”

But the wind was already strong. It wasn’t rising. It was surging. The ocean pushed upward in violent sheets, slamming into the lower platforms with a force that bent metal supports and snapped wooden planks like dry bone. Eighty-mile winds tore through the canals.The water didn’t seep anymore.

It climbed.

People shouted. Lights flickered. Entire walkways tilted as if the ocean itself had decided to stand up.

We tried to pull it apart. We really did. Dario’s schematic had been right, the control core sat exposed beneath the outer shell,but every time we got close, the machine reacted.

A pulse. A violent push through the water. It threw us back to the surface like we weighed nothing.

Noris grabbed my arm as I tried to dive in again, catching my breath desperately. “It’s protected. Araceli, stop!”

“It’s controlling everything!” I snapped. “Don’t you see it?”

But the machine didn’t care what we saw. Only that it kept working. Behind us, the storm above grew louder. The platform was already collapsing in sections. People were climbing upward, abandoning lower walkways as the ocean swallowed them whole.

We swam rushing to the shore. Fighting our best through the brutish waves, slamming us against each other and pulling us apart again. The wind kept blowing. We made it to the coastline, wet and cold. The wind roared as we made our way back to the Edge. The planks rattled and snapped, pieces flying away in the wind. The pillar I had fixed was now long gone.

“I can broadcast it,” I said, breathless. “The radio. If we amplify it through the Central line…”

Noris didn’t answer. She just stared at the radio in her grasp. Like it was dangerous. Like it was alive.

Click. Click, click. Click.

Then silence. Then nothing. Noris raised it slowly. Nervously and worried. Her face deformed in frustration. Almost like she was going to cry.

“No,” she whimpered in a whisper.

And then she slammed it down.

The crack echoed louder than the storm outside. The radio hit the floor. All the little pieces flying out like a spark.

My chest went cold. My eyes widened in terror and despair. It was almost in slow motion. I reacted as fast as I could, throwing myself toward the ground in hopes that I would catch it.

“That was the only proof we had!” I yelled in agony. My body now laid on the grown, hands in a fist. I kept staring down, watching as the waves swelled beneath the cracks of the planks rising higher.

“I know,” she replied.

But she didn’t sound like she knew anything anymore. She sounded afraid. Afraid of what she had already lost. Afraid of what her family might become if the Levels collapsed. Afraid of the truth.

Dario had come looking for us. Soaked, shaking, eyes wide like he had been through war.

“I told everyone what has been happening. I had recorded the signals and uploaded them to the system. They’re activating the self-annihilation early now,” he said out of breath. “Your father…he’s not waiting. They’re initiating phase 1.” Dario looked at Noris.

He looked at the broken radio. Then at me.Then again at Noris. He understood what had happened.

My mind felt unsteady. I was confused as to what they were talking about. Suddenly, something massive shifted. It shook the ground with an ominous tremble.

The Central Tower groaned.

Noris, Dario, and myself started to move. No matter how angry I was right now, I knew that if I was dead, nothing was going to change. Shit, even if I lived, what difference would I make…

Level 4 shook as we started to move past it. Level 3 was already partially submerged. People were climbing anything they could find. Ropes, pipes, collapsed scaffolds, anything that led away from water.

The Tier Towers in the distance swayed like they were unsure whether they belonged to the sky or the sea anymore.

Noris ran beside me, her face pale. “I’m sorry,” she kept saying. “Sorry isn’t good enough. I trusted you and you have no idea what you have done! Everyone on Level 1 and 2 has nothing. I have nothing. We work day in and day out trying to provide and escape this never-ending cycle of ‘Live to work’. And all you have to say is ‘I’m sorry?!”

”I wasn’t thinking. I just...” Noris tried to defend herself.

”Yeah, well I don’t want to hear it.” I was too angry to listen to her excuses. We had to find higher ground. “Everyone knows now anyway. So it doesn’t matter. We will be free now, we just have to wait for the storm to pass and everyone will make things work for the better. No more Tide Tax.” I said, a little more calm.

Until…one of the Tier Towers cracked at its base. It fell. Slowly at first. Like it was thinking about it. Then all at once. It collapsed into the ocean with a sound that swallowed the storm for a single, terrible second.

I stood still. Watching the water rise from a window on Level 5. I watched as The Shop was swallowed whole. Etta’s chair was adrift through the waves. Behind me, my mother, father, and brother were embracing each other. My father held my mom in her arms as she cried and yelled. My brother pulled at her now dirty white, woven skirt. Everything was gone.

And all I thought was, “I always wondered what the view from here looked like.” The horizon stretched out in violent motion.

Maybe we broke something. Or maybe we only reached the part where it was always meant to break. And I couldn’t tell anymore if we had climbed toward freedom… or simply into a different kind of control. Besides, our future is still in their hands anyway.