Chasing the setting sun. (482 hits)
Category: NoneRating: 1.11 on 10 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Kaelic <scarletranger.at.yahoo.com> (View user info) at 2007-01-10 23:18:35 EST
He could feel the rush of speed as he pushed the accelerator even closer towards the floor. An old man blazed by him to the left, and was then lost in his rearview mirror. He anxiously looked at the position of the sun as it began it's descent down towards the bright, sparkling water. He wasn't sure he was going to make it now.
Trees seemed to blur by now, hiding his pristine ocean view, and with them they brought a shadow down across his face. The canopy over head seemed to close in, forming a seal of dark, wispyness that made him feel suffocated, even with the rushing wind that came through the open windows. It was cold, to cold for anyone to be out doing anything. It was winter time, and here he was, headed for the water.
Her voice had seemed soft and ethereal when she had called him only a few hours ago in a strange coincidence. He hadn't meant to think about her, really, normally he just tucked her away into a safe little corner of his mind, nice and neat. They never spoke, never talked anymore. Her voice, so soft and feminine, had held a sort of quiet urgency that made him walk out of his job, had made him drop everything. She had asked him to meet her at their place before the sun set. Where there was only sky, and water. That was all. No small talk, no idle how ya been's. He had chuckled to himself as he had closed the cell phone.
She didn't realize that he was always at that place. In the dark hours of the night, when he lay on his cot, he was at that place. The sun always burned brightly, there, and there he was most at peace. Always, when he thought of it, it was with her. It was a place without shadows, where they simply couldn't exist because there was nothing to cast them. There it floated amongst the two largest things he knew, the sea and the sky. It always made him feel small and lost, until she had placed her hand in his. Then, and only then, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
The curves of the road bcame hard for the speeding car to handle, but he felt a sort of panic, desperation ... he had to make it. The bridge to the island came up like some ancient concrete dragon, and he flew over it's back. Past the enormous beach houses, past the last lone gas station trying to sell sunscreen and beach towels. He left the door to his car wide open as he began to sprint down the beach, the effort of the soft, deep sand making his lungs ache with each breath.
He was headed for the western most point, a sharp dagger of sand that jutted out far into the water. Another wave of that black desperation as he stumbled, the sun touching the water, setting everything around it on fire. He could see it now, and he saw someone there. He slowed now, gasping for air, approaching the very last bit of sand, where there was only water and sky ... the light from the sun making a broken path of refracted illumination in the gentle water. As he came closer, it was suddenly apparent that it was not one person, but two, but they held each other so close they had appeared as one. The sky was a deep scarlet, and somewhere above the clouds, beyond the curve of the earth, a bird could still see the sun, but he could not. The place that was only sea and sky faded into deep purples and blues, illuminated only by the twinkling of more vastly distant stars. He couldn't speak as he watched them look at him and nod and smile, both wrapped together it a warm plaid blanket. They walked the damp sand aisle back to the shore, and began a trek back to lights, and condos, and people, and gas stations with unnaturally white lights that sold sunscreen and snorkels.
He watched them until they were just specks. He watched as the tide began to come in, closing him off in that place that was nothing but sea and sky, and darkness washed over him, like being wrapped up in cold sheets against bare skin.
It was too cold for anyone to be out doing anything, but still he waited.
User Reviews
Submitted by QueenAshlee (user info) at 2007-01-12 20:27:10 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by jade_digitalmedia (user info) at 2007-01-12 11:27:44 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
8> jade
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2007-01-12 11:08:23 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Very soft. But I guess with a title like that you have no choice but to be soft. Unless you're Icarus, then you've got a reason to buy a parachute and fuck your girlfriend like a raging bull before your very first kite lesson.
Submitted by JonnyX (user info) at 2007-01-11 16:35:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
so....she's a whore?
Submitted by Shlongy (user info) at 2007-01-11 07:59:01 EST (#)
Ranking: -2
The "sun" must be a code for "gay man".
Submitted by i_can_get_you_a_toe (user info) at 2007-01-11 03:53:07 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
To be honest, I'm waaay past the point where I am able to read posts, but this one had a picture and the word 'ethereal'
I proofread that sentance 5 times/
Submitted by Amontillado (user info) at 2007-01-11 02:40:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
I liked it. That's probably because it had the ocean though. I wish more people would write about it.
Submitted by TheUniter (user info) at 2007-01-11 00:15:32 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by lungfish (user info) at 2007-01-11 00:15:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 1
Submitted by Kaelic (user info) at 2007-01-10 22:00:11 (#)
Ranking: -2
We're totally not friends anymore.
Submitted by Kaelic (user info) at 2007-01-10 23:24:57 EST (#)
Ranking: 0
Sorry, my literary muscles, like my real ones, have gotten small and weak from disuse. Be gentle, or not, whatever.