Paper 3 The Journey Back

The Journey Back
By
Hafeeza McKinnis

     “What did you find? Kaitlan excitedly asked as she scurried ahead of us to catch up with her sister.   
    “It's a rock, Kaitlan, a rock! Chelsea exclaimed, as she moved the beautiful stone away from her sister.
    “Let me see, Chelsea! Mom! Dad! Chelsea won’t let me see the rock!" cried Kaitlan.
    “It’s my rock, since I found it, and I don’t want you looking at it!” retorted Chelsea
    “It’s not your rock! You didn’t make, and you can’t take it…!"
    The voices drifted off in the wind as the girls continued their squabble ahead of us. My feet lingered as my gaze was transfixed by the seagull ahead, swiftly darting to catch its prey. I reached for my hair, which was blowing in all directions and tucked it into my coat, as the same wind that embraced the waves caressed my face. A shaft of light glimmered on the water as the sun played peek-a-boo with the clouds. My husband, a native Oregonian, speeded up so he could catch up with our two skirmishing girls.
    I unzipped my coat and sat on one of the water soaked logs that furnished the beach. The wind picked up again and I shivered as the cold air enveloped me, but I was now comfortable with it, unlike my first visit to the Pacific. Was it really so long ago that I made that voyage to the Oregon Coast? Now it seemed like centuries had passed, when I was in another world, in a different body!
    I remembered my excitement when I knew I would be visiting the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Now I laugh at myself - my naïve assumption that this would be just like home, my enthusiasm to be the first one in my family to explore the Pacific, my anticipation of relief from my distressingly cold days, my eagerness to feel the therapeutic touch of the water, my fervor to hear the reverberating resonance of the ocean, my thrill to feel the inviting sand between my toes, and the intuition that this one visit would somehow make adjusting to living here easier.  What was I thinking?
    I could vividly recall the shock of standing on this same shore during that  first trip realizing this was no Caribbean beach! What I encountered then was the antithesis of my limited experience. The prevailing fog dancing around the water with fiendish delight was an unfriendly foe. Its accomplice, the squally wind which attacked me with such ferocious force, was an inhuman intruder. How could one experience nature in all its magnificence and majesty in this frosty, aloof, alien place? How could one benefit from the tantalizing therapy imparted when all your senses were deadened by the numbing cold? Yet, as the oceanic symphony permeated the air, I remembered the overwhelming sense of peace that enveloped me as I listened to the spontaneous tempo of the water.  This melody was familiar. I also remembered the flood of emotions that encompassed me as I watched the flamboyant waves prance on the sandy shores. This too was just like home, and for the first time I felt secure. It was inconceivable that this cold, foggy, alien beach would become a harbor of solace enabling me to resolve my conflicting emotions.  But it did!
    Now, as I sat on my water-soaked log, I could barely see the horizon through the gracious clouds. Yet, the harmonious dancing waves with their boundless melody infiltrated the very heavens.  An atmosphere of blissful tranquility engulfed me. The evergreen trees towering majestically toward the gigantic, azure sky lined the coast with a beauty of their own. The ambiance of these imperial, elegant conifers was a peaceful torrent washing over me.   In the distance, the fog had turned inland and was now traveling toward us. We will wait for this welcoming mist to embrace us before we gather our things up to leave. I closed my eyes as the cool, delicate, flowing zephyr bringing the taste of the salt water to my lips cuddled me. The tangy aroma of the sea coupled with the sunshine’s sporadic scintillations as it played with the water worked their enchantment and took me to my sanctuary. I could remain in this perpetual paradise forever. Suddenly, like a flash of lightening, my perfect world was shattered.                 “Mooooom, Chelsea won’t let me see the starfish!”