A Plunge In The Waves

As a pale sunlight filtered through my window, I stepped out into the sand to find the ocean grey and rough. Huge waves were breaking at the shore, and a cutting wind had sprung up. Oh! how eagerly I had looked forward to a morning dip in the ocean. But I was forced to wait for the waves to abate, before entering the water.

I wrapped a blanket around me, and sat by the sea. The sun rose steadily, and the hue of the ocean changed from a deep blue to a sparkling golden. The boats sailed by, and the fishermen heaved their huge nets filled with catch on the beach. I stared at the great mass of water and its undulating crests and troughs. Sometimes a big wave would crash near my feet. The invitation was tantalising, but the waves still looked too ominous for a plunge. "It should get calmer as the day wears on," I assured myself. The tide ebbed and flowed with the passing hours. At some point of the day, the water level reached the rock behind which I was sheltered. I quickly retreated to a safer haven, and watched the tide gush in with the foaming current.

Meanwhile, people trudged into the water and splashed around merrily. Children built sand castles, and danced along with the waves. However, their mirth did nothing to allay my qualms. I still waited for a friendlier current and tamer waves. The tide turned several times, but the conditions never suited me. The coast was lined by a colourful array of bright umbrellas and bathing suits. Children shouted in simultaneous joy and dismay, as the sea destroyed their laboriously built sand-castles. But the destruction only encouraged renewed efforts to rebuild and remake.

Dusk came and once again the wind became chilly. Through out the day, I had waited on the shore for a swim. The blue ocean had beckoned me with open arms, but I could never muster the courage to brave the waves. The merry flock of men and women trudged back home tiredly with their baskets, shovels, mats and umbrellas. The fisherman bade the sea a tender goodnight, and anchored their boats to the quay. The crimson reflection, which the twilight had produced, turned into silver ripples as a waxing moon appeared on a cloudless sky. The gentle roar of the ocean and the stillness of the night weighed heavily on my mind. The whole day had passed in a fruitless vigil. My opportune moment never arrived.

I gazed at the abandoned beach, bathed in the moonlight. I was about to retrace my steps back to my home, when I saw her shadow cross my shelter. She stopped and smiled at me.

"Who are you?" I asked in astonishment. She was clad only in the silver moonlight, and her slender form swayed gently in the breeze. Her dark hair fell in cascades near her waist, while her darker eyes mocked me with gentle derision. I had never seen anything more gorgeous. She approached me and touched my naked shoulders. "You have waited the whole day for a dip in the sea, have you not?"

"Yes, I have, but it was too rough for me."

"I know, you waited beside the ocean for its waves to subside. But that never happens, does it now? Come with me." She extended her hand in my direction.

"Now? It's dark and its cold. I may drown."

"You won't. Make haste, follow me."

So I followed her along the sand, through the line of moored ships, against a shivering gust into the icy-cold water. "Oh!" I screamed out in pain, as the water stabbed at my skin like hundred knives. Then suddenly, I felt her lips on my mouth and her hands around my neck. She dragged me with all her force, and I stumbled between the monstrous waves. The tide was retreating, and the rapid undertow pulled me powerfully into the ocean. A warm joy spread through my body. I was making love to her and to every wave, which carried us further and further away from the shore. Her fingers clawed at me in desperate passion and her nails dug deep into my skin, drawing a narrow trickle of blood. The salt of the sea rubbed into my wounds - savage marks of her nails and teeth - and burned like hundred flames of fire .

I tried to recover my footing, but the water was too deep and the current too strong. "Who are you?" I cried in ecstasy between the frantic lovemaking.

"You were scared of these waves and the waters, of the cold and the tide, of the wind and the darkness. And, in your fear you denied yourself every joy, every happiness, every adventure." I was deep inside her now, as another massive wave washed over us and threw our entangled bodies into the night air, before receiving us back in its bosom. The phosphorous on the white foam shone like candles, and I saw her face - a paradigm of fearlessness. Her emeralds, rubies and diamonds glowed softly in the phosphorescence. Together, we climbed each crest before collapsing beneath the ensuing trough.

Suddenly, the tumult of the current increased manifold, and I struggled to stay afloat. But her arms gave me firm support, and under the starlit sky, amidst the roaring tide, our lovemaking rapidly advanced towards its crescendo. Our cadence quickened, until our bodies and minds erupted in climax after climax. "Dearest, you never told me your name," I gasped through the throes of my orgasm.

"I am your spright, your youth, your trust, your valour, your might. Love me, and make love to me until you die." The waves threw us from peak to peak, as the moon and the stars and the wide ocean witnessed our uninhibited union.