1The Sea
I pulled off my socks and stuffed them in my church shoes, which I had quickly grabbed from the closet, before stepping onto the beach. The familiar feeling of sand squashing between my toes was comforting. I walked further leaving footprints behind. I liked that, that I could leave a bit of myself behind even if it was only a print. It's like no matter where I go, what I do, I'll always leave just a little part of myself behind for other people to see.
I continued my trek, my heart thudding with anticipation as I watched my feet take me down the memorable route. The soft sound of the waves grew louder the closer I got to the ocean until before I knew it, the water was kissing my toes and only then did I look up from the ground into the endless stretch of sea. It never ceased to amaze me and it didn't fail this time, the sight so beautiful it made my breath catch. The huge expanse of foamy blue-green sea stretched out for miles in all directions, the sun slowly sinking into the sea resulting in a myriad of colours that spilled out across the water and melted into one another to form what looked like a frenzied artist's palette. It was beautiful. And it is my favourite place in the entire world.
In my whole life, I've only ever had two friends, my older brother Pieter and the sea. But Pieter is gone now and all I have left is the sea, the only other thing that acknowledged me. The first time I visited the sea was when I was five and we moved into the nearby cottage. Pieter took me out for a walk and we stumbled upon the beach. I fell in love the moment I laid my eyes on the great big blue, the waves beckoning me. I had released my grip on my brother's hand and I ran to the sea, stopping short at the feel of the icy cold water that surrounded my toes and chilled my feet. It was the best sensation. I remember how I licked my chapped lips to soothe the roughness, the metallic taste of beaded blood mixed with the salty sea air exploding on my tongue and how I lay in bed later that night, licking my lips again to try regain the flavour.
Even now, seven years on, I can still taste the salt and blood in my mouth. The sea glitters like a diamond and it's painting a beautiful picture. So many people are afraid of the sea but that's only because they don't understand it as well as they think they do. Because when she glitters, when she lets the world see the beauty she hides under an angry façade, once you've seen it all...you realize that the best treasure at sea is the sea. She doesn't seem so frightening after that...just misunderstood. Admittedly, she can look as fragile as glass but looks can be deceiving because that illusion is easily shattered when you see the waves towering over you, gaping mouths ready to swallow you whole but she'll spit you back out, she'll always bring you back home in the end.
I have always been a disappointment to my mother and father because I was nothing like they imagined, nothing like my older brother. Where he was handsome with a charming smile, I was just plain ugly with a gap-toothed smile to match. Where he was strong and buff, I was wimpy and scrawny. Where he was right, I was wrong. I was awkward, weird, a freak and everybody knew it, maybe that was why the bigger boys would always bully me and people shied away when I extended my hand for friendship. I was an even bigger disappointment though when Pieter, left to go fight at sea. He had said it was his duty to go, his duty to help fellow men. Mother begged, Father shouted – it didn't matter. Pieter had his heart set on going. He snuck out late at night whilst our parents were asleep and oblivious to his plans. I know because I was the one who watched him go, who put their hand on the cold pane of glass and silently called out for him to come back. He didn't hear me and got into the waiting car without a backwards glance or a thought of what he was leaving behind. Come morning, Father was enraged and Mother was heartbroken, we could do naught but sit at home and await a letter. It never came. Each day the haze of tension grew thicker from the invisible black cloud that had descended over our household and enveloped us all in an asphyxiating hold. Father was easily set off by the tiniest of things and Mother was prone to weeping at random intervals. I knew because I saw those fat drops sliding down her round cheeks when she was in the kitchen, salty tears falling into the vegetable broth and adding to it a personal flavour of a mother's broken heart. Sometimes, I would catch her gazing at me with a thin sheen of unshed tears gathering in her tired eyes and I could hear each and every one of her thoughts, how could I have ever been so unlucky to end up with such a failure for a second son? Why isn't Gus the older brother? Then he could leave for war instead of my Pieter.
Two months later, this morning, we received a letter. I heard the 'sorry' from the messenger though he didn't sound sorry at all and as soon as I heard the raw, hoarse sob ripping from my Mother's throat, I left the house. I knew.
Pieter had always been my friend; he'd always taken care of me and had taught me how to defend myself against the bullies that would tease me about my slightly-too-large ears. They never worked because I was too weak against them but the fact is; he cared. And now that he was gone, I had no one left but the sea. But even then, in the end the sea stands alone. It will be your companion but it won't last forever because you don't last forever.
Breathing a deep sigh, I closed my eyes and stretched my arms out wide to hug the sea. The salty breeze tugged at my hair and the halcyon water swirled around my knees as I waded further and further into the water, icy drops still spraying my trousers even though I had rolled them up. I stopped, opening my eyes and looking left to right, seeing nothing but ocean. I felt a smile stretch across my lips before laughter bubbled out of me and I was splashing like crazy in the water, kicking at it and spinning as the waves jumped along with me. I hadn't realized that my wet cheeks were not from the seawater spray.
Two nights after Pieter left, I had a dream. I was fighting like my brother on the open sea, fighting alongside the tempestuous ocean that had brought so many to their deaths yet instead of instilling fear in me, the crash of the waves was soothing and inspiring me to fight for my country, each roar like a thunderous applause that congratulates only me. Since then, I have waited for Pieter to return with stories of the sea, of his many adventures on the sea. I longed to hear about how he saw jumping dolphins and schools of fish all colours of the rainbow, how he fought and won many battles.
Turning away from the magnificent view of the sunset and the ocean, I splashed my way out of the water and onto the shore. I plopped down onto the sand close to the waves so if I stretched my legs out, the water would lick at my bare feet everytime the tide came in. Lying down, I didn't care whether I got sand in my hair, about how Mother would react to the mess I had made of myself when I came back home. I gazed up at the slowly darkening sky, the faint wispy grey clouds barely there but I could still make out the shape of what looked like a mermaid to me though if I tilted my head a little more to the left, it looked like a ship. In the background, I could hear the serendipitous sedation of the sea slipping softly onto the shore and my feet before withdrawing back into solitude only to come back out again. I wiped my eyes.
So I think I will lie here and know that I'll wait for as long as I have to because in the end, I know the sea will bring you back to me. Because that's what she does. And when she does, I'll be waiting to hear those stories you promised me.
author's note:
okay, so i know i haven't posted anything but rest assured - i AM writing. i have started a new story but i'm not going to post it yet because i want to write a few more chapters before posting it here otherwise i'll have to write as i go and well, suffice to say, you guys ARE going to end up waiting for eternity for me to update. at the moment, i haven't been in a good position to write things other than sad, depressing, tragic material (though this story isn't really that sad...i don't think anyway) so for all those happy romance stories: they may be on hiatus for a while. but i will try to continue writing them when i can because it's already the first term and i am buried under piles of work. no joke. but i'm trying to do everything (:
i wrote this story like a week ago or so and i just decided to put it up. i wrote it just for fun for this creative writing competition where you have to write a story with the theme of 'The Sea' in 1500 words. i hate word limits because i have the kind of disease where i write, write, write WAY too much. but anyway, i made it within the word limit (not including the title). and although it's kind of jumpy and probably needs some work as there are some things which don't make much sense (i think), i'm kind of satisfied i guess. so what do you guys think?
effay.
PS; i wasn't sure of the rating or if i've put it in the right category.