Ocean | The Last Krystallos

Photograph by Lisa Shambrook

Once Upon a Time – Flash Fiction

The Wind, the Rain and the Ocean…

Clouds billowed across the heavens teasing the little sail boat rocking in the ocean’s arms below. The sailor glanced skyward and Rain offered a light-hearted shower, her watery robes glistening in the sunlight.

Wind whipped her skirts about her and hurled her sister a glare interrupting the sprinkle. “You won’t win like that!” she hissed sending her own provocative sigh into the little boat’s sails.

“Well you’re not doing any better!” said Rain resuming her shower, crystal raindrops shrouding the wooden mast.

Wind swept out her hands and blew her sister’s fluffy clouds away, scattering her sparkling drizzle across the sea. Wind smirked and pitched a gale. Her long hair fluttered in the remnants of the storm and Wind sent a swirling gust to envelope the sailor amid the violent squall.

Rain clapped her hands, darkened her clouds and her torrents engulfed the boat.

Wind whipped up a fury, “He’ll be mine, not yours!” she shrieked her temper flaring as rain poured.

The drenched, shivering man on the deck below cursed them both as the tempest arose.

Wind, determined to beat her sister, stirred up a whirlwind and coiled her tendrils around the sailor, but Rain wasn’t to be outdone and let her roiling clouds release their cascade in a waterfall of tears. The valiant sailor fought as howling wind swept his boat awry, and torrential rain flooded the deck leaving him clinging to the rail of his boat.

The storm flourished as Wind and Rain battled conjuring up blazing lightning and ear-splitting thunder…and as they did waves swirled and churned beneath the tiny boat, booming against the bow and hurtling across its deck. Beneath the keel Ocean smothered a chuckle and allowed her sisters’ fight to escalate. Their ensuing wrath would assault her in vain but their prize was hers.

Ocean tossed her white hair as it danced on the waves and drew the little vessel beneath the spray. The sailor slipped into her grasp and quietly acquiesced within her embrace and kiss…after all, she knew what her sisters didn’t – a sailor always gives his life to the Ocean.

(350 words)

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Oooooh, after a weekend in my hometown…I have to admit I really miss Brighton!

I’ll tell you what I miss most…the seaside, I used to live one mile from the ocean and now I’m many more miles away from it.

That’s not to say I’m not happy with the welsh beaches I live close to, I adore the sandy shores of Pendine, Pembrey and Llansteffan…miles and miles of broad sandy beaches, perfect for walking the dog, splashing through the waves and soaking up the sun. They don’t get as busy as Brighton beaches and they are my favourite places to be.

But, and it’s a big but, I miss my childhood beaches of Brighton and Hove. I don’t understand why, but I even have fond memories of climbing up from the sea, across the pebbles ‘ouch’, hopping and stepping carefully to find your towel, placed strategically far up the beach… I remember wandering, again stepping carefully, across the beach trying to find the patch of sand that you know is there…but where? Then you find it… A metre square patch of golden sand…what a find, a real treasure! And sitting on the pebbles, throwing stones at drinks cans lodged ten feet away! And I love the ‘plop’ of stones as they arc and plunge into the sea as they escape your hands.

I love the big stone groynes placed between the beaches, I can remember spending warm evenings sitting on the end of these watching the sun go down and enjoying friendships and romances! I loved late evenings watching the sunset with the ocean stretching out in front of me…

I remember the magic of walking on the Palace Pier as a young girl, and staring down through the weathered wooden boards at the green ocean twinkling and sparkling in the sunlight below. The salty smell of the ocean and the wind rippling through my hair…I relived all these last week!