Teacup stories – a story short enough to fit into a teacup.
Ocean – (Rating PG, Genere: General) – In the middle of the ocean, there is nothing.
In the middle of the ocean, there is nothing.
You are too far removed from the world to feel its pulse, the drumbeat to which all humans march. In the ocean, you are like a piece of driftwood from a shipwreck, detached from its fellows and pulled away by forces that cannot be seen by the human eye. Out here, the night sky is not just black, it has dark hues that you can just about make out against the starlight. The night sky flows and moves too, just like the sea beneath your boat, drifting around the stars lazily on a course that the universe has chosen for it.
Here your thoughts are free, and the mind is unconstrained. Here you can concentrate on the breath flowing in and out of your lungs, focus on your heartbeat as you allow your senses to be imbued with the peaceful lapping of the water against the wooden hull of your craft. Thoughts come and go, like the waves come and go underneath you, and time slows down until you can barely feel it moving at all.
That is until the sun rises.
No land is in sight, so when the sun rises above the horizon, it is the only sight to break the monotony of endless water. At first, the black of the night sky becomes tinged with red, and the stars near the edge of the world dim and fade away. You blink, trying to adjust yourself to the new light which dances across the surface of the waves.
The red becomes orange, so gradual you barely see the change at all even though you are transfixed upon the horizon. The sun itself begins to peek above the horizon, casting its sharp white light across the dark sky like a knife. The stars fade, withdrawing back into the universe again. It is easier to pick out the colour now, blue sky begins to form around the edges of the reds and oranges.
The waves continue to lap against the boat, but this time you can see them hit the side of the hull and bounce back, small ripples cast against the endless pattern of waves that crosses the ocean. The sun rises higher and higher, drawing light upwards and casting it into the sky. Along with the light comes a sense that there is a new start, after the peace and tranquillity of the night-time you can stand resolute, joining the world again once more.
It is as if the world is set right again, like all you thought was wrong is now trivialised and controllable. Like how the stars make you reflect on how small you are against the widest breadth of the universe, the sun allows you to feel a sense of purpose again.
It is not just a new dawn. It is a chance to admire the world for what it is, and realise the magic that exists around you.
Alex.J.Cobalt 