Infinity

The idea for writing a prose piece for a change came to me a couple of days ago but other things took precedence - it took another evening to complete and I offer it to you now with minimal explanation.





Infinity - 01 Mar 11

She was lying on her stomach; her chin resting on her left hand and her right was tracing an infinity sign with her fingertip - over and over, in the warm sand.

She didn't know why, didn't even know why it was important, just thought that it was necessary that the horizontal eight was drawn by her, repeatedly.

A fleeting shadow passed over her and she looked up but was instantly dazzled by the sun; quickly she looked down but the afterimages of blue streaks and spots interfered with her vision.

She crumpled the smooth patch of sand where she had been drawing, with her hand, scraping down into the cool depths and meeting moistness below.

"Damn." The word muttered under her breath echoed in her mind.

She dragged herself to her feet and looked around, a lone gull had been hovering precariously on the breeze, with a single cry it slipped sideways and was gone.

She walked down to the water's edge, stared out to sea for long moments then turned to her right and walked with her feet just avoiding the little waves.

Hours passed and, although she didn't feel tired, she sat on the sand to look at the sea again; enjoying the languid movements of the waves.

Without her noticing, her right hand started to trace the figure eight in the sand beside her again.

A grain of sand caught under her fingernail and she looked down, sighed and picked her finger clean.

She stood and looked to the right then started to walk again, her shadow beneath her feet.

The sound of the waves had an hypnotic effect as she walked, her eyes wandered out over the sea and she watched as several gulls flew just above the waves before landing in the water.

She sat to watch the gulls cleaning themselves, she wanted to get comfortable so she lay on her stomach and rested her head on her left hand; she smoothed a patch of sand with her right hand and started to draw with her fingertip.

A pattern emerged, a figure of eight lying on its side, over and over her finger moved to trace the shape in the sand.

A fleeting shadow passed over her and she looked up and was instantly dazzled by the sun...





Offered, as I said, without any real background information...comments, as always, are always welcomed.