Reflections on the rolling waves

Day 5 of the journey - our heroine runs away to sea

I went to the seaside today. I watched children and dogs playing on the sand and running in and out of the waves. I narrowly missed being knocked over by a group of teens, their faces flushed with excitement as they returned to shore after a sailing lesson. I ate some deliciously upmarket fish and chips. I walked on the promenade and drank a cappuccino while the tide rolled in. All very enjoyable.

Then I became somewhat reflective. You know the sort of thing - the sea’s so big that our lives seem insignificant; what lies beyond the horizon, etc

The sea has always provided inspiration to writers. Running away to sea is a constant recurring storyline, the very stuff of adventure tales. Stories such as Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, the classic running away tale of Jonah and the Whale, poetry such as John Masefield’s Sea Fever (‘I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky’) - the list goes on. 

Maybe tomorrow I’ll draw on that inspiration and write a sea inspired story. Although it will probably be more about paddling and sand castles than pirating and swashbuckling. But then, why not, perhaps I could try something a little different?