Someday The Waves ✔ *Wattys15 Winner*

Chapter Twelve

. . .

"You didn't tell me I'd be expected to climb it." I breathlessly shouted up as Noah tightly held my forearm, pulling me up onto the slippery rocks.

"Not too far left now," he called down, helping to lift me when I couldn't find my footing, the soles of my feet sliding under algae that coated each large rock - ones that Noah had proudly revealed to me after our long walk on the beach.

For a supposedly secret place, one that he'd been so excited to show me all day, it didn't seem that special. I felt guilty for thinking how I wished we just stayed on the shore, where it was safe and a lot less work. I'd already managed to stub my toes against one of the lower down rocks with the sharp sides carved by the waves.

Trying to think of anything other than Noah's soft hands around my waist, as he helped me move further up the rock, I smiled and asked him. "Are we there yet?"

"Almost."

As Noah climbed and I held on, grabbing at any available flat surface, worrying that I didn't have the strength to haul myself anymore damn rocks, I noticed that we were now quite high up. The sound of the waves crashing below grew muted and the circling gulls above became our new soundtrack.

With the sun in his eyes, Noah told me not to look down, which of course I had no intention of doing, as we scaled rock after jagged rock until I felt stable surface beneath my heels and the breeze again in my hair.

Once I'd put both feet firmly down, he told me to angle my back against one of the lighter coloured rocks, and join him where he had already sat.

Doing as I was told I shuffled over, wanting to move away from the steep drop below me and to catch the breath I'd held in since we begun the climb.

A triumphant smile on his face, cheeks rosier than usual Noah said. "So what do you think?"

"There are some nice rocks here, yeah." I mumbled, balancing my backpack precariously close to the edge beside me. Just a glimpse of the dark, foamy waves below where enough to make my stomach back flip, as the realization of just how high up we were begun to sink in.

He laughed. "No, ahead Scarlett."

Following his gaze, I saw something special appear before my eyes.

I imagined it was a similar to how it felt looking through a viewfinder in a camera.

Capturing between the streaks of light, something beautiful, something special.

"Pretty cool right?" Noah sighed, likely with a smile but I wasn't looking. My own viewfinder was solely focused on what I saw in front of us.

One enormous piece of rock, that reached far down into the sand below had been hollowed out perfectly in the centre. It's insides eroded away by the wind and waves, and through it the ocean and the sky stared back, lit up by rays of sunlight.

Such was the way the rock arched over, anything behind it was exposed like a framed picture, as if the heart of the rock had been removed and the crystal blue ocean had filled it.

The gap appeared almost heart shaped too.

"The first time I came here I thought it looked like the rocks were arching over into each other but it's actually missing a solid piece from the middle, like something just came and pushed it out." Noah mused, as I marvelled at the crazy, beautifully strange and unexpected view.

Who knew rocks could be beautiful, I thought as I watched yellow beaked gulls fly right into our own private view and then swiftly disappear out of shot.