The Sea

The waves crashed onto the shore in a rhythmic pattern, lulling the day to sleep. The sun was almost gone now, and the first stars were beginning to find their place in the sky. The gulls were calling each other as they went to rest for the night, and few people still walked along the shore, talking quietly to one another. All the boats that had journeyed across the sea during the day were now tied to the docks in the marina not far from the beach. Most of the shops in the town were closed, their lights out and doors locked. The pastel beach houses that towered above the dunes were like colorful lifeless beings that stood watch over the town as the night grew darker. The moon is high in the sky, now. One old, wise-looking man with gray hair and a pensive, quiet spirit pedaled silently through the town, with only the moonlight and a few house lights illuminating his path as he went. As he passed houses and shops, he watched the sea as the waves continued to crash and swirl. A young girl with long, auburn hair and a hopeless and forlorn soul sat in her window seat hidden in her bedroom, looking out over the ocean. Her brown cat sat huddled into a ball next to her, his long tail wrapped around himself. A boy with eyes the color of the sea was sitting next to his mother’s hospital bed, grasping her small frail hand as she peered out the window of the gloomy room, trying to catch a glimpse of the waves not too far away, the same waves that used to breathe life into her once healthy spirit. A lonely older woman with brown eyes and a longing spirit sat in her dark living room, a record player killing the somber silence of her house, as she, just like the others, watched the ocean in all its mysterious glory.

Each one of them was scattered throughout the small town, all staring out at the same ocean that had once healed their spirits, hoping it would do it again for them soon. Every one of them had a different struggle that no one knew about, besides the ocean. They found their solace in the silence that created noise in their life to distract them from the struggles they were all facing. Each of them felt their problems melt away when they watched the ocean conquer the sand, but really the problems were just sinking deeper, and they didn’t even know it. The chaos of the waves distracted from the chaos of their minds. The ever-changing tides made them forget about the constant rut they each were each stuck in. The ocean was like a movie played before them, a movie you didn’t need a ticket for. It was open to anyone who would watch it, but it had the type of plot and storyline that made the audience get so invested that they forgot about their own lives, without realizing. The struggles that seemed to disappear when they watched really just got deeper roots and made their already chaotic minds swirl in circles even more.

It’s now about 2 a.m. The moon is bright and full and reflects on the waves. The girl with auburn hair is tossing in her sleep and her cat is sitting in the open window feeling the sea breeze. The girl sits up and takes her place at the sill of the open window and begins to watch the sea, again. The moon shines down on her and her feline friend as they watch the show the sea puts on, distracting from their problems they seem to share. The boy with eyes the color of the sea is asleep in the chair across from his mother’s hospital bed, not knowing that she has made her way to the other side and is completely still. The window in the hospital room is open as well, and the sounds of the sea flood the boy’s ears even as he sleeps. The older woman with dark eyes and the record player is tucked away in her bed. Her record player is off now, and her dark house is silent…except for the sound of the ocean which is coming in through her open window. She finished her book before she went to bed, which means she needs to find a new one tomorrow…

The old man is now sitting on his porch with his hound asleep next to him. He’s had an incurable case of insomnia ever since he was young and so most nights he sits with his dog and watches the sea. His wife used to sit beside him some nights, but she left not long ago and now he sits alone. He misses her company more than anything but he’s thankful for his dog who showed up after she left. The old man tells others that the dog knows him more than he knows himself, which is probably true…