An exploration of imagery and symbolism for a creative writing unit; a scene at the beach, a poem capturing a symbol of fear or depression, and then a scene including a symbol of joy.
***
I'm surrounded by other kids, some daring to dip their toes in the cool and lapping water. It licks their feet, retreats, rolls onto its back with its return. They squeal and chatter while their carers keep vigilant watch, ignoring us, for the most part.
The sand is grainy and soft and slimy all at once, caught in the ridges of my palms and fingers, and trapped beneath my fingernails. It's a carpet beneath my feet, between my toes as I dig on my hands and knees. We're forming a channel, the lot of us. One directing the water from ocean to sandcastle.
It's slow, the water
if it enters the channel we've dug at all
Tentative, reluctant.
We persist
Dig further, deeper, shovelling sand with
hands, plastic trowels, shovels, scoops
Burrowing through like time's sands are running out
And then it comes,
a roar, a rush
and it crashes through
sprays across relieved faces and sand-clothed limbs
Relief gives way to panic.
Horror.
There is no more sandcastle.
The seagulls are loud, celebrating as they nick food from picnickers or sympathetic kids. Said kids are even louder, shrieking with laughter at the feeling of sun and sand and ocean, some running out of the lapping tide with seaweed dripping from their little hands.
We're still on our hands and knees, sand stuck to our skin like glitter as we craft a new kingdom. Some of us grab plastic bucketfuls of water to make the sand into a moldable muddy mess we smack and push together. Others press shells and seaweed strands into the construction work as it reaches its peak.
Finally, we rise to sandy feet and step back, grinning at each other and the new castle.
Done.
YOU ARE READING
Spontanéité
Short StoryA collection of some bits and pieces of my written works. These bits and pieces weren't all spontaneous pieces of writing, though. They're descriptions of people, places and memories, and maybe they're short stories or other things. I don't know, it...
