The Beach

The grains of the sand sifted between my fingers as I moved my hand across, breaking the smooth surface that had once been in its place. The heat flowed through the sand as it warmed my body, moving up my arm, fighting the chillness that had once stood in its place. I knew that the tide would remove all clues of my very existence from this place, forgetting the roughness that I had brought and leaving no memory behind.

My fist clenched the sand as I lifted my hand up in the air. A sign of refusal to accept the fate that befalls all men. The sand slowly began to seep through my fist, trickling down the arm and bouncing off my body and back to the beach below. I opened my fist only for the sand to fall at a quicker rate until there was nothing left. It settled where it fell, forgetting how it had been lifted up and ending back from whence it had come.

As I sat in my chair, my body grew tired, remembering the long life it had once lived. The ocean waves brought with it a reminder of the eternal cycle of life on earth. The breeze gave a smell that no longer provided comfort, only a chilling breeze as it passed through my bones, continuing its predetermined path.

Time did not stop for me, it slipped past as quickly as the sand from my very hand. The beach stretched beyond the horizon and I felt lonely, afraid, and tired. I had gained all I wanted in life, lived as one with no thought of an afterlife or consequences to my actions. The retirement I spent my entire life working towards was not what I had envisioned. It did not make me happy as I had been told, instead I was overwhelmed with bitterness. I had given up everything for this very moment, my friends, my faith, my very soul. Now, as time neared its very end, I had nothing left. There was no laughter, no comfort, and no joy. All that kept me company was regret.

Why did the beach bring such an emptiness to my soul? I pondered the question until darkness wrapped around me like a mother putting her son to sleep.