For the Love of the Sea

Watching the waves rush closer to the shore, she dreamt of escape. Escape from this world that had trapped her. Keeping freedom at bay until some unknown day. A girl of barely thirteen years, she had much more to learn, many more discoveries to make. But this didn't faze her. Anything was better than the prison she had known as home. Or the captors others would assume were her parents.

From the window of her cell, she watched the sea. Yearning for the soft feel of its waves, the caress of the sand beneath her feet as the sea welcomed her into its depths. Free to move and wander with no hindrances or intrusions. The sea would not limit her to what only it wanted. Or what was more convenient for it. The sea would compromise and blend her needs with its moods, her desires with its abilities.


* * *


Today would be a different day. She would accept the invitation the sea offered to her today. Every other day she had been too frightened to escape the clutches of her captors. But today, today she felt no fear, only determination and courage.

She crept from her prison as the sun began to rise ever so slowly from the horizon. Arriving on the shore, the girl refused to acknowledge any possibilities of failure. Watching the waves approach her seductively, a peaceful smile crept across the girl's face. This was her time. The sea moved closer, encouraging her to accept its welcoming arms of grace and reassurance. She followed its lead, and raised her arms up to embrace the sea. The sand caressed her feet as she walked into the waves' welcoming arms.

The sea was drawing her in, engulfing her legs, waist, and chest with its love. She felt the sense of freedom she had longed for, for so long. This was the escape she had desired. The sea knew her. And she was right in trusting the sea. Closing her eyes, the girl relaxed as the sea enveloped her body. The particles of sand moving around her now, gliding across her skin as she drifted freely deeper into the sea's depths. The sea truly loved her. Why else would it welcome her so deeply? She felt her mind slowing with the rhythms of the sea; smiling serenely as the relaxing numbness of freedom took her completely.


* * *


"Emergency News from the Channel 7 team bears horrible news, as the thirteen year old daughter of the Prime Minister appears to have vanished from her parents' beach house on the Gold Coast in Queensland overnight. Police predict that the girl may have fallen victim to the recently reported pedophile, Benjamin Hill. If this is confirmed, behavioral experts predict that much like Hill's previous victims, the girl may have been raped before being beaten to death and dumped into the sea.

It is with this possibility in mind that the police have issued helicopters and rescue boats to be part of the search investigation of the Prime Minister's daughter. Be sure to find out more in the evening news with Ken Burrows. My name is Sandra Andrews, good day Australia."