A changing of times for everything she thought. Glancing down at the ever speeding blur of road and white lines passing by. You have to go on, there is no real escaping it. Loosing herself in dreams of things, she fell asleep until they suddenly stopped. Her mother grinning at her, told her they were their, and to pull out their gear. Stretching delicately out of the car, she looked around at the water moving silently on for as far as her eyes could see. It was her birthday today, she thought, and I'm doing what I always seem to do these days for this day... something out of the ordinary. She grabbed her sneakers and padded down the beach after her mom, laughing with eyes, twirling around on the beach.

No other human beings had seemed to be about them, but then they were within sight as they moved around the last dune blocking their view of the main beach. And there it was.... silently standing by, battling and blocking the sea. The jetty. Ominously in some ways, for the end was not in view, but disappeared into the oceans foggy dew.

She chatted with her mom, and then they set off and began to climb the rocks. Once at the top, they moved along boulder to rock, peering down occasionally to view the ragged gaps in between and the ocean on each side after a time.

The sun beat down upon her, making her sweat… the salty breeze then came, soothing her skin. She couldn't get enough of it.

They came upon a pile of driftwood that looked like someone had tried to make a kind of hut. She looked about and found one piece the perfect height and weight for her hands to balance. And so they were off again. In time, she let her mind drift, forgetting her mother - and all that society had bound her.

She let her hair free. Pulled back her hat, not caring if the bright sun burnt her pale complexion, or burnt more freckles onto her cheeks. She felt absolutely free, and moved on, hearing a song she'd once heard but forgotten in the ocean breeze. The waves crashed below her on both sides. The boulders beneath her, beckoned to be reached, seen, felt - known.

Her spell was shattered by a call that seemed to echo from behind on the rocks. Her mother had stopped some way back. Her older years slowing her, as well as the sandals she had chosen to wear. She called her back to her, saying she couldn't go on much further. But the girl, she was young, and she wanted, felt the need to continue one. So she waved to her mother, beckoning her on, but she would not come. She told her daughter that she would go back, but she didn't want to leave her daughter out there, but this she didn't tell her, but let her move on.

The girl quickly forgot this moment, and continued on. Her heart was singing her it's own song. She removed her flimsy black shirt, tucking it into the back pocket of her short cutoffs. Revealing the green bikini top she wore merely for support. Her skin warmed to the rays of the sun, scorching her shoulders. She could taste the salt all around her, vibrating through her upon the air. She took off at a run. Her muscles became taunt as she jumped from one rock to the next, some with fishers gapping widely in between. Her heart pounded faster and faster, the air she breathed cutting her lungs. She stopped, her staff still in both her hands… respectful of the ragingly calm sea. She stepped up to edge of the jetty, staff in one hand… her back straight, eyes watchful… and then she smiled.

The people who had been there along the beach, the ones who had gone there along the jetty, had stopped after going really but a short ways. Her mother had stopped about half way back from the distance she had traveled, and so she was really alone from human beings for the first time in her life. She knew that no one else was out there, watching her, guarding her. She felt like this place was hers. The alcove below had urchins, crabs lurching about, starfish, and so much more. She sensed the life around her, both in the creatures and the earth. The world upon which she stood was as a kingdom for a short while to her, and she the lone human, privileged to see it for what it was and know it's worth.

Something slowly intruded on her thoughts. A loud blaring that had been ever there, but she had not taken into account within her. A large horn she thought, to warn ships? So taking her staff again in hand, she moved along. Jumping where need be, it was getting more precarious by the minute there though. And then she came to a gap in the long line of boulders that had so far been her path. The gap was about 75 feet long. She would have to climb down closer to the waves to keep moving along. She hesitated, for she loved yet ultimately feared what may lie beneath the ocean. But this day, she decided to face her fears of the deep water for once, and so continued on. Climbing down till she was within hands reach of the water. One misstep and she would tumble down into it's depths. All the time she had been traveling, coming to this point she hadn't been afraid of falling, of braking a leg or anything. Yet here she was terrified of what lay below her. Not the water, but what may be hidden in it from her eyes. Sharks and things like them, she had an unrational fear of, and this seemed to consume her, nearly freezing her in that spot. But fear also made her keep going, along with her goal to reach the horn which had earlier disturbed her thoughts.

She made it across the gap with no mishaps at all. Relieved. That was simply her right then. Her muscles untensed from the rocklike stance they had held. She felt nimble once again, and so continued on toward the sound.

Here across the gap, the rocks were trickier to navigate. Some were like spikes. She had to use all of her wits to keep from falling, from taking one wrong step either left or right. Her mind and she took off in flight. And then there is was, about three hundred yards off. The noise was booming. The sound felt like it would shatter her ears. It was a white horn, about 8 or so feet tall. She'd reached her goal.

She looked at the horn, out what lay beyond. The end of the jetty was within her view, but distant as the ocean apart from her it appeared to be. Then she turned really for the first time and gazed back to the shore. It too was within view, but microscopic looking and far beyond. She'd traveled halfway down the jetty that day on foot.

With a sigh of achievement and regret, she moved back along the way she had come. It seemed but an instant really to take her back to where she had begun. Her feet thought for themselves, her balance perfection on the day. Her mind drifted back along the way she had traveled, the emotions she had truly felt. The world seemed new to her and apart from her all at the same time. She had opened her eyes that day really for the first time.

She had left her childhood behind her, but it would still be with her for a lifetime to come. Whether in emotions or actions all that she had learned before would accompany her on through whatever may come her way in life. And even if she forgot it, years from now, it would still be there with her, as would this moment, for it was apart of her.

She snapped out of her trance like state then, and realized where she was. A few hundred feet more and she would be down onto the shore below her. Stopping, she turned back and wondered back out over the miles she had traveled today out over the oceanic sea. She was gladdened in her heart for what she had done. A smile flit up upon her lips.

Her mother spotted her then, and called to her loudly. And so she turned back once again to the world of man, and to her mother's arms she climbed down from the rocks into. Laughing all the while at everything she had done. She was content.

...............................

That is the end of my tale, but it is a true one. It's not the best, it's not the worst, but it is a moment from my life. A birthday, a time, and a moment I know I will always remember.

Softly,
Tarwyn