Love is an ocean

They say love is an ocean wide. Well, there she stood at the water’s edge, fully clothed, ankles buried in the mucky sand. Waves chased up the white skin of her calves, wetting the bottoms of her olive Capri pants. Her feet sank deeper into the mire. The impulse to dive in was almost too great. Perhaps the saltwater of the sea could wash her clean of this not-good-enough feeling.

Why is it, she wondered, that guys only ever went after pretty girls? Skinny girls with just enough filler in just the right places that when dressed to kill were impossible to miss. They managed to catch every college-age male eye. Phone numbers fluttered on pieces of paper from one hand to the next. Flings were flung with only eyes – what else was needed?

Just once, she thought, she’d like to be noticed – but for her personality, not her legs. She looked down again at the foam around her knees. The tide was coming in. Should she go? Her friend was sitting a little farther back on the beach, having a telephone conversation with her mother eight hours away. The sun was setting behind her and to the right. Eastern coast, southern beach. A large fragment of shell caressed the top of her right foot as it passed on its way back out to sea.

The waves had a soothing effect, but she knew that only a full soak would be truly cathartic. So did she dare? Back to the beach, or into the waves? The water seduced her, but she resisted. In the moment, the sensation would be wonderful, but after? No.

“Beautiful sunset, isn’t it?” He said, coming to stand beside her.

“Yes. I wish I felt the same.”

“What?”

“I don’t feel very beautiful at the moment,” she confessed sullenly.

He looked about to say something, but He only pursed His lips and paused. The two stood in silence for a time – He with His hands in His pockets, she with her arms crossed over her chest. Then, in one swift movement, He had one hand under her knees and the other around the middle of her back. Ocean sprayed around them as her legs flew into the air.

“What are you doing!” she screamed, at once terrified and irate. She clasped her arms around His neck to keep from falling into the chilly waves.

He asked her soberly, “Do you trust me?”

“What are you going to do?”

“Do you trust me?”

“Sure.”

“Then hold your breath.”

With that, He ran full force forward into the surf. Holding her tight – determined not to let go, even if saving her meant letting Himself drown – they dove into the first wave. The ocean, frigid as ice and smooth as glass, hit them like a bulldozer. For the two seconds that they were under, she struggled for breath, and her eyes burned with saltwater. Those brief moments lasted an eternity, but she felt those strong hands holding her the whole time.

Then, they broke the surface, both gasping for air. They were on their feet, standing on the sandy bottom on the other side of the wave, which was now breaking in clusters of foam on the shore.

“How do you feel now?” He asked, wiping the water from His eyes, mouth, and nose. She shivered violently in the stiff wind.

“Cold and wet.” She grasped her shoulders tightly and looked longingly back to the shore. His arms were about her in an instant, and He pulled her close, sheltering her from the oncoming waves.

“And now?” He asked quietly. She thought, closed her eyes. Despite the tumult of the sea and the violent wind, she felt a gentle calm flow through her.

“Safe, warm.” she murmured. “Beautiful.”

This dive hadn’t been an erotic purging. No, this was real and cleansing love. She felt new again, just like she had the first time He’d taken her through the crashing water and seen her safely to the other side. Now she was fresh and sparkling in the fading, golden rays.

As the two exited the water together, she thought how the sun setting was actually more like the sun rising. A new day, another chance, can come at any moment of the day…and this one was hers.