Friday, June 8, 2012

To the moon



Confused I sit down at the desk and look down at my open notebook. I know it was empty when I went to sleep last night. I remember going to bed frustrated because I couldn’t find my writing muse. Maybe I’m just fooling myself was my last thought as I drifted off to sleep. Maybe I don’t have it in me.


"Go ahead and find your writing self"  my husband said as he handed me a gift certificate to this beautiful inn for my birthday after I shared with him my dream of becoming a writer. "Take a week and just do it. I want you to do this for yourself." 

Yet this is my handwriting as I turned the pages of notes. Confused I keep reading.
The change in night breeze disturbed my dreams waking me up. The light of the moon poured into my room illuminating my desk, as the breeze flutters my papers scattering the notes of my novel that I’m secretly writing.  The ocean waves pounding onto the surf as if trying to send a message. I push the covers off me and sit at the desk staring out onto the beach. 
As I go to set the papers back on the desk I see her on the beach, the full moon lighting her up. I saw her earlier today but from a distance. I remember her because she was dressed in a cape of sheer silvery material and the suns rays were bouncing off it. She stood out among the tourists camped out on the beach and the locals wandering up the the surf walking their dogs. When I look outside the window now I see she is wearing the same tunic but it is off her shoulders. The muscles of her shoulders and upper arms reminds me of the Olympian swimmers I watched on TV. She keeps dipping her toes in the water and then stepping back just as she was doing this afternoon. She is staring out over the ocean as if she is waiting for a signal.  What is she waiting for I wondered. I sit at the desk mesmerized watching. We both are staring out at the moon. 

Suddenly a large shadow appears in the horizon. It is moving fast and is getting larger. The shadow gets closer. The woman is continuing her dance of dipping her toes in and stepping back but at a faster tempo and is now staring at the shadow getting closer. All of a sudden the shadow is in front of her, and that’s when I see it. At first I thought it was dolphins but then I realize it’s a school of women, swimming as graceful as dolphins, their golden hair disappearing into the water as their rainbow luminescent fins come up and into the air. Suddenly as the moon was in direct line of the horizon the shadow turned, the woman on the beach threw off her cape and walked with confidence into the water, joining the others. She dives into the water with her golden hair fanning the water’s surface until it disappears and her rainbow fin appears. She joins the others as they swim to the moon. When the shadow disappears I lay back on the bed, the breeze has died down and the ocean is still. The silence almost deafening.
I look up from the notebook as I finish reading the words.  A warmth envelopes me as I realize maybe I have found my writing self. 

This prompt comes today from Write on Edge. We were to write a story using "to the moon". 

6 comments:

  1. Love the imagery here. Dipping her toes in, afraid, and then plunging into the water...beautiful metaphor.

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  2. Great descriptions. :)

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  3. Ooo. I want to know more! Your imageary here is beautiful and fascinating. Great job!

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  4. That was lovely. And mermaids. Yay!

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  5. I loved your descriptions here and they way they were a metaphor for the woman finding her muse.

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  6. Very vivid. I loved this "The ocean waves pounding onto the surf as if trying to send a message" Well done!

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