The Power of the Sea -- Some Let Me Make You

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Date Posted: 14:07:45 03/21/01 Wed
Author: maggie
Subject: The Power of the Sea

And for that moment I felt like God. I was under water only perhaps a meter deep but it was clear, crystal clear with my goggles on and refreshing. It had taken me a while to ease myself in. With each step I sucked my stomach in more and then laughed at myself, as always, as I knew that breathing in did nothing, I was still cold but I always did it. When I was waist deep I stopped and just stood there with my arms folded and surveyed my view. Where I stood the sea looked cold and let me assure you it felt it. Further down the beach there were jet skis, one windsurfer and a few people paddling. There were many people walking and only a few sunbathing as it was late in the day, however, I saw two children in full sun protective gear even to the hats, must have been Australian. The waves were getting bigger, and nearer the beach they were beginning to crash on the sand but where I was standing it was just huge swells of water with a bit of spray getting me wetter. I waved my arms, the momentum was needed to make me dive, and counted; one, two, three, deep breath and I dived in. My arms swung above my head, my hands together, an arrow head, my chin tucked down, legs together body taut, preparing for what would happen next.
The water sealed above me and I was cut off from the outside world. The cold rushed over my head and clung to the tiny hairs on my arms and body and until my air ran out I was in luxury in the bliss of my world. I zoomed through the water with my hands in front of me guiding the way keeping me streamlined and my legs propelling me with butterfly leg kick. I smiled to myself I was totally happy, at one with everytyhing, the water had lost its initial coldness and was now cool and fresh and I sliced smoothly through the water thinking there could not be a better feeling at that moment in time.
Through my goggles and the clean water, the visibility was excellent. The sand was in tiny ridges sculpted by the constant waves above, it reminded me of the wind shaped sand dunes all the same colour just a miniture version. There were little holes dotted about belonging to the creatures who lived in them just like the bedouin camps in the middle of the desert. I felt like one of those fast moving clouds that create a shadow literally for a few seconds and then is gone. I wondered if those insignificant creatures could feel me moving above then, was there a change in light? And then at that moment I felt like God moving across the earth surveying all below. As I swam I was careful to swim high enough so as not to disturb anything but also low enough to not break the surface which would break the silence and the spell.
I put my feet down to stop and breath and a sting-ray aware of my closness uncovered itself from its sand camouflage and glided away. Suddenly I saw no longer aloof, not all was beautiful, one snap of the sting-rays tail and the immense immediate pain I would have felt would have finished my perfect world. I was reminded of how small I really was, a mere dot in millions. I thought about how in the water my danger was probably multiplied by all the factors I was not used to, those big lethal fish, the current, the tide and the breakwater rocks.
I carried on swimming. I was cruising along the sea bed only in about three quaters of a meter of water after being pushed in by the tide. A wave crashed above me. The swell of the wave moved me but not far as it was the top that did the damage not where I was. The noise it made was huge, it is always so much louder underneath. I could hear it getting closer to me, the noise getting louder and the wave getting bigger and faster until it was right above and it roared once and was gone and all that was left was the tinkling of the shells and sand on the sea bed and I knew how quickly my world can come and go.

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Replies:

[> good to sea (ho ho) you writing at length again, meg. the tinkling of the sand and shells on the sea bed is great, as is the bit where you feel like a cloud - you need a bit of work on some of the sentence structure, though, and you can't survey a view! remember, keep your language clear and clean and sharp - don't go off into things like 'immense immediate' or 'probably multiplied' - you're at your very best when you use bright, clear words - i hope you know what i mean. -- si, 14:46:54 03/24/01 Sat

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[> the description and detail here is what really makes this. "the tiny ridges in the sand" and I also love the "tinkling of the shells." I like how the calm, observational style changes to the breathless, panic in the final paragraph. Its nice to see that you add swimming techniques to even your writing. Water on the brain? -- james, 16:52:16 03/27/01 Tue

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[> I agree with these comments. I think 'immense immediate' is quite funny actually. Why can't you survey a view? -- luke, 13:03:29 03/31/01 Sat

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[> [> because it's a style crime. -- si, 11:53:10 04/01/01 Sun

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[> this piece reminded me of one that i never finished writing actually. everything here is very sea like though i'm not sure if i like the fact that you aren't the only one on the beach. it is also a very realistic piece - especially with the whole tucking the stomach in when getting in the water bit. -- zeina, 11:50:52 04/07/01 Sat

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