sea change

catefrances

she stands on the top of the cliff and stares down into the water. she watches as the waves crash against the sandstone cliff and the spray flies up into the air before it covers the rockshelf. she watches as the water retreats and then builds again to crash back onto the rock. the wind whips her dress against her legs and her hair covers her face. she holds it behind her head gathered in a ponytail and thinks of flying. she loves the ocean and the wind. she loves the smell of seaspray and how it tastes on his skin. she loves the way the ocean seems to go on and on. out to the horizon and beyond. she loves that it lives forever. her parents would bring her to this place when she was younger. they let her and her siblings wander all over the place exploring. she doubted they knew when they were out of their parents' sight, she and her sisters would lay their heads against the railway tracks and wait for the trains to come. that they'd climb the trees to secure empty cicada shells that metamorphasis had left behind. or that they'd climb down the steep cliff tracks to the rockshelves and look into the rockpools for creatures you didn't ever see inland. she always wondered what it would be like to encounter a shark while swimming in the surf. she never did and in fact has never seen a shark outside an aquarium. she closes her eyes and raises her face to feel the sun warm her skin. she hears him call her name. she smiles. he worries about her. he worries too much. but he knows what she is capable of. she turns and he comes to her. she rests her hand on his hip and he touches her shoulder. when he asks her what she is doing, she says nothing. she always says that. and he always accepts it. he remembers once when he asked her and she told him. she told him she was thinking about jumping. he asked her why and she said because she felt it was something she needed to do. he never asked her again. she asks him, and not for the first time, does he ever wish he could fly. he says sure he does. he takes her hand and asks if she wants to fly together. she says yes. she squeezes his hand and he leads her home.

bluejourneyman

can i share your point of view?

catefrances

would you want to?

FinsburyParkCarrots

Do you think she'll return to the cliff, alone?

catefrances

she always does.