Prose

CRASH!
CRASH!
WHOOSH!
 
A young man collapses on a golden sandy slope as
sparkling waves tumble onto the shore before dragging themselves back out.
 
CRASH!
CRASH!
WHOOSH!
 
The waves continue.
 
As the blazing sunlight breaks through the ocean,
it greets the young man by bathing him in warm rays of light. It illuminates
his dark, bold facial features and his long and unkempt locks of dirty matted
dark hair. This daily greeting of celestial beauty goes unnoticed by all,
excepting the young man, whose daily ritual is to
visit the rising sun.
 
The icy water slides like a loving sheet of liquid
cloth over his bare feet, burnt and broken-skinned from the wear and tear of
daily life. The salty water feels pleasantly refreshing as it rushes over his
upper legs, before scurrying away, back to the ocean where it dwells with unknown
water creatures and surfers.
 
The young man can almost taste the salty air and
as it tantalises his senses, he pulls from around his neck a chain, bland and
dull in the orange light of the rising sun and unable to shine because of its tarnished
and seemingly-unloved status. Dangling from the grey chain is a pendant of
memories heavy with the vulnerablity and one-time camaraderie between the young
man and the person hidden behind the cover of the camouflaging pendant.
 
The salty water swooshes back to his feet, washing
away yet more of his sandy footprints as he pauses in front of his campsite and
the Australian bush landscape. The water is rushing up and over his legs, splashing
up in his face as it collides with his stomach.
 
A bark breaks the natural silence which the he had
been enjoying. It is not startling, though. It is so familiar that the young
man needn't bother to search for it.
 
With a wagging and swinging mustard yellow tail,
all fluffy and quick, and a flopping and panting areola-pink tongue, the young
man feels his tears slow their speed. The friendly companion joins him as it
shoves its yellow head powerfully through the gap in the young mans arms, breaking
his grip on fist in fist.
 
As the four-legged companion pushes his hot and
moist breath into the young man's lined face, he embraces the one entity that
he calls a friend, that he calls family. And as he clutches the dog close to
his heart, so he also clutches the neck chain, suddenly gleaming in the now risen
sunlight. And his sudden gleaming smile contradicts the hard-to-notice pink
scars and scratches on his forearms and legs.
 
Despite the harsh and saddening times that the
young man has faced, through his experiences he has found serenity with solidarity
amongst the harsh, yet beautiful landscape of the Australian bush. This companion
that he has acquired, and although young they are in spirit, and aged they are
in experiences, together they will know that they feel certain that their
footprints are still down there, like words on a page. And that together they
shall survive as the ritual of life continues their sandy footprints may be
washed away by the foaming ocean,
but they will never be forgotten.