Between here and the Sea - Short Story

When I was a kid I lived in Trincomalee. Trincomalee was a busy town, it had the world’s best natural harbor or so everyone said and a mountain which had an ancient temple, which ended in a precipice, with the sea dashing on the rocks below. From here you could see the Indian ocean stretching to the horizon, and in my childhood imagination at least the Islands first sunrise. And I liked to think then that if you went straight south in a boat avoiding the coast of Batticaloa after traveling an endless ocean, and crossing quarter of the globe you would end up in the remotest regions of the Antarctic. The atmosphere here was remarkable, it had all the markings of a remote island ready for adventure, but it was never lonely and there were plenty of things to do. The sun shone a little brighter in Tricomalee and when it rained it rained a lot harder, the same was true of the people who lived there.

My father had a property several miles north of town in a remote fishing village used for cultivating onions. During holidays I used to go there by bus, but one day I would have been about ten years old then, I had a crazy idea: why not walk back to town along the beach. I hoped to walk south from there along the continuous beach and arrive at the beach in town by evening. So I started walking but soon found that I was cut off by a mountain jutting into the sea, it did seem to taper off further inland but to go around I had to walk into a thick jungle which I wanted to avoid. So I climbed the mountain which had orange sand with boulders and trees strewn all around. The climb was one of the most difficult things I had ever done, but on the other side we came to a magnificent beach with a sea which had an unusual blue. I kept walking for hours hoping to find someone but I was the only person in this beach, except for an eagle which was busy fishing there was no sign of life here. To the right of me was a thick jungle, and I was too tired and frieghtened to turn back so I was forced to walk south hoping to find someone who could tell me where I was. 

Then I saw something dark on the sea and coming closer I saw that it was the wreck of an old ship and I suddenly realised that I was walking on a beach that was avoided by everybody. It seemed that there was no way out of here before nightfall and the last thing I wanted was to stay there at night. Out of nowhere the sky darkened and big warm raindrops started falling with such force that it was painful when it hit the skin, then just as soon as it came the rain disappeared and the sun shone brighter than ever, and I discovered one of the advantages of living in an island so close to the equator. The sun shines so brightly and burns the skin with such intensity and the violent rain together with the brightness of the trees and the sky and the thundering sea acts as shock therapy and makes even the most dismal mind happy again. After a few hours I came across another mountain which was identical to the first except that the sand was red. After I crossed it I did not know where I was but kept walking and I looked up, and there in a mountain was the ancient temple I knew so well. I had been so tired that I did not recognise our own beach, and that day stands in my memory as one of the best I ever had.

Written by: RJX