Assignment Number Ten: Sky (In the Style of William Fiennes)

It was getting dark when I pulled up to the beach. Leaving my car parked under a dull streetlamp around the corner, I strolled across the road, my footsteps clicking on the tarmac. As I reached the sand I hitched up my trousers and trod on the heels of my pumps to free my feet. My toes sank into the sand with the same comfort and ease one would feel in coming home after a long absence. People always say the sea has a healing effect on the mind. It has something to do with the motions of the waves and the clean-cut salt air that clears your thoughts better than any therapy session in a stuffy office. I could always smell the sea from a hundred miles away, calling me like a bird to a nest full of hungry mouths.

On this particular evening I had a lot to clear from my head. I couldn’t concentrate. I had tried to read but my eyes wouldn’t stick to the lines and I’d wound up following the same sentence over and over again. I walked towards the shore line, the sand rising and falling under the balls of my feet forcing my calves to work harder than usual. I dropped my shoes onto the ground, letting my body follow close behind as I slumped heavily into a sitting position, leaning my head back to allow the breeze to stroke my hair. The sun had nearly set. An orangey-pink glaze had been smeared across the sky and grey smudges formed in groups floating above my head. My thoughts emptied. The sun began to fade and the sky grew darker. Soon, the only light to dust the surface of the water came from the punctuation of the stars on a heavy black canvas. In that moment, I wished the distance between the sand and the sky would collapse and pull me away from my tiresome life of deadlines and decisions. I felt at peace here; my own little haven in an otherwise hectic existence. There was no other part of the world I knew so well, or loved so much.