The Ocean, a story

[John K.]

I could not have love, so I was determined not to love. I placed love in the ocean, and I moved nearby where I could visit the place we had last been.

Every now and again, as time went on, I would dip my toe into the water. This way, when it turned out to be as cold as I knew it would be, I would not be very wet at all. I could pretend that I had just been walking past and slipped in; I was careless, and, after all, we all walk barefoot on the beach. If someone saw me and asked what I was doing I would say, "the water looked so tempting, but it really is very cold".

As the years passed the water became warmer, and eventually it was as comfortable as the air outside. On one particular day the sky was beautiful and the birds were singing, and I did not pay attention and somehow wandered into the water. I did not know where I was until I was immersed.

I smiled as I realized that love had returned, and that it had only been a matter of time until love changed the ocean from cold to warm. It was not until I began to swim toward the shore that I realized that I had only dipped my toe as I normally did, and that the ocean had risen to cover me.

It was not long before the water subsided and I stood where I had been, no worse for the wear apart from the wet clothes that everyone could see. I was shivering. I walked toward the ocean to return to love, but as I dipped my toe I realized that it was cold again. Love had not changed anything, the ocean was as unwelcoming as it had always been. I walked home wondering if any of it had been real at all.

[Sandra]

that is beautiful John!

[lizzytysh]

What a dreamlike sequence, John... no doubt brimming with symbolic meanings. If I had time to delve further into it I would; however, I'll just accept where it took me and how wonderful it felt to be immersed in the warmth that love brought.

Thanks for this fascinating sharing.


~ Lizzy