Encounter By The
Sea
by Rumjhum Biswas
He stood at
the peak of the sand dune surveying the world
around him. Far above, a gauzy blue sky shimmered.
A briny breeze gently rocked his body. And if the
slight heaving beneath his feet unsettled him, he
did not show it.
She felt the
heaving too, a sort of rhythmic rise and fall of
the sand beneath as she watched him from the top
of the dune directly opposite. His body was taut
and alert. He seemed to be scanning the horizon
for something that was not immediately visible,
but he knew it was there. She knew it too, and
like him could not quite place it. The tension
flowed between them like a bowstring ready to be
strung.
Beyond their
immediate surroundings the sun burned cheerfully.
The sand was dry and crumbly on the surface, but
was cool and soothing just a few grains below;
the kind that puts a spell on a body and lulls it
to a point when even thoughts flow in slow motion.
The sea lapped playfully yonder, blowing
pleasantly moist sprays every now and then.
When he
finally saw her, she could tell that he was just
as excited.
Discarding
their cautious posture, they both started to move
simultaneously, stopping every once in a while to
survey their surroundings. There was a busy feel
about them, as if neither had ever experienced
the languor of a summer's day.
It was sand
and sand all around, yellow and white, glittering
here and there, except to the front of them.
There the topography was sand less, built of an
unknown mass that nonetheless smelt inviting. The
topography before them dipped and rose again.
There seemed to be caves there too, a pair of
caves. A small wind whistled through it. It was
strange terrain. The odor coming from that
direction was sort of sugary. Intrigued and
mutually attracted, they quickened their pace.
Just then, the
ground beneath them shook violently. They tumbled
and fell in a heap along with a shower of dry and
wet sand. They tried to get back to their feet,
but another avalanche of sand sent them tumbling
even further down, until they were lost to each
and the only thing they could both respond to
individually was how to escape this sudden
unforeseen danger.
"Eek!"
shrieked the woman, and got up in a hurry. "Ants!"
She scrambled
to her feet, scattering sand, and knocking over
the glass which still held its straw like a
crooked cigarette. The glass rolled a little to
the right and a little to the left, spilling out
its juicy contents on to the beach, before
finally coming to rest at her feet.
"I told
you," said the man, lying on his stomach on
the beach towel beside her. "You can't bury
yourself in sand and have your lemonade too!"
He flicked off
the sand that she had scattered into his face,
but otherwise didn't budge. As for the mates that
might have been, too many sand grains stood
between them and their desire, but they still had
the sugary scent about them. Which was a lot more
than what the man and the woman had.
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