Felt the need to write something neither initially romantic nor dialogue. For longer pieces I take the time to learn what my story is in advance, and then let the nuance fill itself in on the way to the main events and happenings of that story. For this story an opening sentence occurred to me, then, without thinking about it, I start writing the story as it comes. Tis an exercise in discovery. Fun!
Just as an aside: it did turn out a bit romantic in tone after all toward the end. So, with a glimpse of images of things that might be, even if only in imagination-tense, with this first post of the new year I wish All that this may be a Happy One!
Water Walk
There they stood looking at each other. Step by step they walked toward each other. Their carpet, the sea below.
Of the years since the creation of modern superstition, over 4379 had passed. It was in 3247 that something would have to be done to protect the ocean; sea life had become so scare and frail that if even a sail boat were to clip a single fish, an entire species might go extinct. If a child were to toss a stone into the ocean, the last sea turtle might be its victim. And the technology was available, so a glass barrier was erected over the ocean 150 miles from the edge of every piece of land inhabited by humans, which by 3247 was almost every piece.
Though it was illegal to journey further than 100 miles out to sea without being a licensed scientist, they took the chance. They started from different places, packed their bags for the journey, and began out on foot. They knew the laws for driving an unlicensed science vehicle upon the glass were harsher, and more regularly enforced, than walking too far toward the ocean. The fact was, the law did not worry about those making journeys of over a hundred miles by foot.
The silence above the glass did not seem eery in the least as they made their way toward each other from different towns. Their journey was not just one to the water, but as the crow flies, likewise to each other. It was not common to see birds this far out to sea, and likewise this far to the sea. The birds stayed for the most part on one side of the zone of glass, or another. They walked toward each other. Their bags light with nutrient-rich foods that could stay edible for a hundred years. Each pack upon their back stocked with enough food to last a year in addition to tents and other traveling amenities. With each passing footfall, they grew closer. They dared not communicate with mobile devices due to the listening sensors. They planned their routes thoroughly and precisely before they set out. Small distance measuring devices were sufficient to make sure they were on route precisely and timely. They wanted to make sure they met for the first time after the work they had put into planning.
A promise made with each passing footfall. Adventure begun between strangers seeking similarities in another who’d never met before. True adventure in a world in which everything was known, and little wasn’t. To walk to where the water was; pioneering as closely as a terrestrial being could. They grew to know each other’s minds from a distance; see glimpses even of each other’s forms. They liked each other enough to make a journey of so many miles, and they both believed that Love required something more than a knowledge of another at a distance. They both believed love to be creation of reality itself, not merely passive perception of it. If they never met, then they could know admiration in some way for what each other was created as. To walk step by step made both their realities to be something else altogether, something common and unique, something uniquely uncommon. Each step a promise being fulfilled, each step a question of promises to come.
They saw fishes underfoot. Dolphins coming up to the layer of air just beneath the surface of the glass. The further they went, the more they saw life flourish. In their own time they contemplated a time when glass would no longer separate life from life; sea to land. At night the stars reflected on the face of the ocean, two universes overlapping and reflecting, the moon showing almost all there was to see. Step by step they grew closer as days passed.
From a distance one day they saw a figure in the distance seeming to move toward the other; a speck that might be moving. And the passage of time was short before they knew they saw what they thought they would see at this time, at this place, on this day. They would run, but the sun was hot, the journey was long, and they knew that in a moment they would know a friendly handshake, and whether or not that first touch was more. Step by step, a promise fulfilled.
Mere minutes passed, and there they stood looking at each other. Step by step they walked toward each other. Their carpet, the sea below. A breeze brought moist salt to their faces as they saw a smile on each other’s lips. They knew before touching they gazed at beauty unlike any they’d ever seen. They looked forward to sharing the experience of touching the water below over which they walked.
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