This story picks up from ‘Innocence’, posted on June 24th.
‘I lived in Southern California. I was the classic “California Girl”. At least I strived to be anyway. And believe it or not, I had a figure to die
for!
‘We had another bonfire party going. The booze was flowing and there was a fog of
MaryJane floating all round us.
‘I don’t know what it was. But, something felt different. I was just settling into the party when
suddenly the voices and music were silenced.
It was really trippy! I could see
my friends’ lips moving, but couldn’t hear their voices?! I knew the radio was still playing because
kids were dancing on the beach. And, I
could see them laughing. It was the
strangest thing.
‘Then, I realized I could hear the ocean and the
wind. It was a gentle night, just a
slight breeze. But, I could hear the
waves lapping against the shore! And, I
could hear the wind blowing through the trees on the dunes.
‘My friend elbowed me then. Apparently, she had been
saying something to me, but I hadn’t heard.
Now, she was yelling at me. I knew
that exacerbated look. But, I couldn’t
hear her.
‘Any other time, this would have totally freaked me
out. But, it was mesmerizing…’
Claire emerged from her reverie long enough to see the
smirks on the women’s faces. She snapped,
‘No! I wasn’t stoned! Geeze, you guys! Give me a break! It’s not like I was always stoned!’ Flustered by Claire’s rebuke, the women sank
into their chairs, tight lipped and stone-faced.
She took a deep breath, and then a long, slow drag from
her ‘cigarette’. No one moved. ‘Anyway, I left the bonfire. It was the wrong energy. Even though I couldn’t hear it, it was too
noisy. I wanted desperately to be away
from all of it. So, I left to follow the
call of the ocean.
‘The closer I moved to the ocean, the louder and more
insistent became its call. Its pull was resolute,
rhythmic, steady. I walked along the
shore, listening, watching the waves in the moonlight, feeling like I was
finally where I was supposed to be.
Nothing else existed or mattered.
‘The moon set alight the water in front of me. The light countered every step I took to move
closer, drifting away yet calling always, and never, never allowing the gap to
close. I don’t know how long I walked
that night.
‘Suddenly, Mark was next to me. I felt his arm slide effortlessly around my
waist, his hand caress my bare stomach.’
Claire’s face reddened as she recalled the moment. ‘It…no, he, was an
offense, an insult to the sacredness of that moment!’ Tightening her fist, she exclaimed, ‘It was
all I could do to not belt him right then and there! How could he be so arrogant and impudent?!
‘I cut off his dim-witted come-on before he could get it
out of his mouth and threw his arm away from me!’ Smiling contentedly, Claire continued, ‘I
told him to get the hell away from me…in no uncertain terms!’
The women giggled at this. They loved Claire’s audacious and confident
nature. They wished they could be more
like her. They had grown reliant on
hearing her stories for through them, the women could live for just a moment as
a beautiful, outspoken, carefree girl…and never have to step outside their
tightly-bound zones of comfort.
‘The moon on the water lingered, waiting for me to dispel
the rude intrusion into our space. When
I turned my gaze back, it lingered still, whispering to me in the rhythmic
pulse of the waves-on-sand. “Relax,” it
said. “Breath, feel the flow, be one
with the flow…”
‘And again, I was walking. The waves lapped at my feet. The water was warm, inviting, luring…’ Claire’s voice drifted as if carried by the
sea, tranquil, quiet. The women watched
in the hush, barely breathing, feeling the sand beneath their toes, captivated
by the light.
‘The next thing I remember,’ whispered Claire, ‘I was
swimming along the shore, following the moon.
The water caressed my skin as I rose and fell with the undulating sea. No longer was I Claire. I was not even human.
'I was the swell of the waves, the salt in the
air. I was every droplet of moist, warm
water washing over the land, supple, lush and full, divine and succulent. I was the sea.'
Mouths agape, the women stared into the vision, feeling
alive in ways they had long since forgotten, desiring more...
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