You''ll Catch Your Death

I could tremble on the lip of life.

Right at the edge, feet balanced and sure as I test the waters, alert to the shudder of icy cold.

I watch them as they splash and shriek, hair plastered slickly against their skin, cuts on their feet where the stones have bitten. I grimace at their recklessness, oblivious to the perils that must lurk beneath and, oh, how under-dressed they are for this whipped and frenzied September sea.

Behind me I hear a pant, feel the ancient breath of a wizened gullet struggling for air. When I turn there is nothing but sea grass and bobbing gulls.

Before me the sea lifts and lights invitingly. It looks so fun in there yet still I hesitate, waiting for the optimum moment, wary of the cold and the sharp prick of shell.

The breath on my neck is now a hot caress twisted into a hushed warning. I pull the towel closer round my neck.

‘Come in’ I hear them call, their voices faint across the salted air. ‘It’s great once you’re in. Just jump’

I hesitate, taking a baby step before I dive straight in. I feel my skin explode into life as water fills my ears and there is just music and bubbles, an ethereal chant that carries me over the next wave. The very stones pulse to it. I feel myself smiling under the water, light dancing over the ripples, waves pulling me on. I let myself drift then strike out with purpose into the dark waters ahead. Each hair taut and alert, muscles hot with the effort and the exhilaration of my blood pounding in my ears. Unwitting tears mix with the sea as I dance with the water. Dance in the sweaty, dirty, naked reality of life. I feel the desires I have suppressed, the chances I have missed, the words I left unsaid. They all wash over and away and I am no longer fearful and tremulous.

The figure stands poised on the shoreline, her toes playing tentatively with the water, her eyes envious as she watches me.

‘Just do it’, I mouth at her, ‘Just jump'

Or you’ll catch your death’