Welcome Back

It had been so long since she last felt the waves beneath her. Cool. Deep. Powerful. She had missed the ocean. The smell of the salt against the roof of her mouth, the sea foam drying on her bare shoulders. There was something about taking the initial plunge into the water every summer that made her feel so alive - unlike anything else in the world.

The weather had turned sour quickly. Earlier than previous years. Clouds formed. The air no longer was bright and clear. Grayness ruled the sky for almost an entire year, unlike anything she had ever seen before. Storms rolled through, hail fell. On a few occasions, snow even blanketed the sand. The dune grass shriveled and died. The gulls stopped laughing. Streets became vacant and businesses went into hibernation, waiting for the tourists to return with the warmer weather.  Throughout it all - she always heard the waves, always churning, ever present. She waited for her moment. It would come - it was just a matter of time.

When she had run down the beach, she barely felt how cool the sand still was beneath her feet. All that mattered was that the clouds had parted and the sun had come out from hiding.

The plunge into the water ripped the air from her lungs. It shocked her to the core. She had waited so long for this. Her skin welcomed the cold - the moisture. Her pores breathed it all in.

When she surfaced, body shaking, and teeth clattering, she knew she was the only one. It was still too early for everyone else - the water too cold. It was. Even for her. But it didn't matter.

She belonged out amongst the waves.