An Ocean Sunset

• Piper Higgins, Grade 7, Orara High School
• Short Story
• 2014

Excellence Award in the 'Write As Rain 2014' competition

An Ocean Sunset
By Piper Higgins
The ocean, the most beautiful place in the cosmos as the sun sets, the sky is becoming purple and the first few stars become visible as if they are peeking around a corner. They appear slowly at first, quickly becoming brighter, like a beacon of happiness. The gulls are beginning to fly towards the last rays of sun, far out into the ocean. The waves repeatedly creep up onto the shore now, reaching out as if to touch the sand.

The warmth in the air is beginning to be replaced by a chill as the sun drops lower in the sky. As time passes, the sky progressively becomes black, looking like a void of endless darkness, broken only by the promise of light from the stars that shine and remind us that there is never just darkness, without the light. The gulls are just about gone now, and their cries are barely a whisper as they fade away. The wind is picking up strength, bringing a deathly chill, the waves are much larger now, desperately reaching out to the shore as if seeking a hand to hold.

The water is cold and whatever it makes contact with shivers, as if it could steal life from its soul, and replace what it takes with numbness and terror. The wind blows harder edging the furious waves on, making them larger and inviting as I approach them, beckoned by their beauty. Looking up into the voided sky I see the stunning brightness of the stars, which are now cruelly taunting the sea as they seep like tears into the dark abyss of the ocean.

Descending down into the chaos, into the frigid depths of the ocean, my last thought lingers. “Perhaps this isn’t the most beautiful place in the cosmos after all.”