Endless

• Emily Bolin, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2008

The sky is endless.

It is velvet above me, and it holds the world’s secrets in its vastness. My feet step from the tent softly, the grass and dirt loose beneath me. The air is cool against my hot skin, and the outline of the branches and leaves ripple with the breeze. Like water.
I walk, hear a faint whoosh in the background of my world, and I note just how much more mysterious and big this place is at night. I tremble in its wake. But I do not fear it; on the contrary, the pure thrill of the adventurous night whispers through my system, my mind, and I am deceived into feeling truly free. Or perhaps, maybe, I really am. Maybe, for this one moment, I am truly free.
I walk up a hill, not tired at all, and before me stands tall a twisted tree, limbs mangled and reaching, intertwined like an impossible net of nature, a weave, a sinister tapestry, sharp points and twigs piercing the night sky.
The tree trunk yields to the wind in surrender.
Turning, looking, I see it. Not many do; the tree often distracts and shields it from view. But there it is - my destination, the well worn path almost entirely overgrown by grass, consumed by rolling sand. A path to heaven itself.
I walk slowly, savouring it, feeling the soft brush of the pussywillows tickling my ankles, my calfs. I pick one, and gingerly feel the furry end, reminded of kittens and whiskers. Smiling hugely, I let it fall, drifting to the sand. I didn’t even wait to watch it fall.
And there, like a curtain drawn to reveal the miraculous stage, was the sea. And oh, how magical it was tonight. The sea was inky velvet, liquid onyx, only broken by sudden random bursts of foamy white. The moon was caught in its surface, silver white- a mirror of the great orb dangling in the sky.
The salt hung in the air, lilting at my nose, and I could taste it. And that whoosh, that roar, the waves, the tide... there is no better sound. The result: soothing.
Maybe this is how the world was meant to be. I know that if I was to stay in this moment forever, I would do so gladly. Maybe I should stay here forever, for all eternity, undisturbed with nature, with the sea, the salt, the sand. The wind whips my hair, and it dances in the beach air. I laugh, and my voice gets caught by the wind, and is taken by the air.
My bare feet are loving this sand, I think happily. And I know that the whole world is asleep at this second, this moment.... it feels mystical. Wonderful.
And as I walk home, back to my place, where I camp, where I stay, by the beach, I know my dreams will take me back there.

The sea is endless.