Stepping off the long hard boardwalk, my toes slip into the cool damp mixture of sand and crushed seashells. The soft crunch of the shore echoes each step I take, but soon are overpowered by the crashing of ocean waves. The vast blue stretching miles and miles into the horizon, mimic the colors of the setting dusk. The fiery colors of the sun slowly and steadily slip beneath the ocean’s tide while the waves do nothing but disappear. For a short time, I walked slowly on, enjoying my last evening with the salty waters until I come to realization that I am not the only member on the beach. Couples enjoy intimate dinners, watching the blazing sun set, thus turning the sky multiple shades of deep blues and ravishing indigos. Children play in the golden sand growing wearier with every minute gone by. Older folks walking the shore line behind me, pick up only the seashells they can see with what little light is left.
The night becomes cold as the sun’s warmth is completely diminished. My arms automatically fold around my body in a shield against the crisp evening wind. I couldn’t help but notice the calmness of the ocean’s waves when just moments before they were alive, coughing up salt and miniscule organisms onto the shore and into the air. The briny taste of the water lingers on my lips along with the thin coating deposited on my skin.
Despite the shift of day to night, the seagulls not once have given up on the chitter chatter they have amongst themselves. Their squawking turns to a dull humming noise that wanders in the back ground as a new sound fills my ears and lifts my heart. The buzz of fireflies encircles my body and takes flight all around me. Their glow becomes brighter the darker the sky gets. The scattered lights of the lightening bugs jump and dash directly before me. A few appear right in front of my face, but before I can react their light burns out, and they are gone as fast as they arrived. The once forlorn children now run in circles after the tiny flying stars and show absolutely no sign of being tired like once before. The fireflies bounce off the glimmering waters, and cast yellow lights in the now present pale moonlight.
Losing slight interest in the flying bugs of fire, my attention is directed over to the dull grey rocks that protrude into the ocean waves. Climbing them slowly, one by one, I use my hands and knees to raise myself onto the highest rock that outlooks both the ocean and the shore. The water shines in the moonlight as is slaps against the rocks I sit upon. The beach is alit with dancing lights that constantly flash in every crevice within my vision. Satisfied with everything I got to see on my last night in California, I lie back on my elbows and marvel at the stars that shine in the dark sky. With a sigh of delight my eyes come to a close, and I slip into dream like world, almost as beautiful as this one.
