A Day So Sweet As Candy (A short story)

Posted By: Samie Kinney
Date: 2/16/05 6:44a.m.

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Have you ever been swept away by the sounds of Mother Nature? Have you ever been so caught up in the world before your eyes, that it seemed as if nothing else existed or even mattered? A moment where all you could concentrate on were the tangible smells mixed and the warm textures that you could both see and feel? Imagine a night so peaceful, so disarming that you let your guard down completely and allow the silence of the night to surround you and hold you. You have no other cares or anxieties rustling around in your mind; instead, it’s a calm. Smooth sailing, all the way through the night. You can feel it. It is on such a night as this that my story takes place. The day had been an easy one: an afternoon at the beach, searching for shells and taking with me the ones that caught my fancy. Thoughts swam easily through my mind as the waves on the beach created a melody as delicate as the seashell in my hand. I remember humming to myself and relishing the sunlight that was wrapping around my body like an invisible blanket. After lavishing away the afternoon, I returned to my ocean-top dwelling to polish off a luxurious home-cooked meal. As the evening continued forward into the night, there was a sweet sensation that sifted through the air. It wove itself a path through our senses and into our souls. The sounds that night were similar to what I had heard earlier on the beach, with the waves brushing along the shore and the light breeze that would cause the rigging to slap against the masts of the boats. However, there was something different with these sounds – it was as though I could hear the darkness sweeping through the air and seeping into my eardrums; creating a feeling on my skin and an image in my mind. But wait. There was another sound that night. A whine, almost. Like an old, achy metal contraption trying to stop it’s movement; yet somehow it held a gracefulness in its tone. There was an emotion to it that pulled at the core while it resonated through us, sending goose bumps up our necks and down our spines. My mother, father and I ascended to the upper deck and strained our ears trying to decipher what this odd sort of harmony was coming from. "Did you guys hear that, too?" we heard from across the bay. "Yeah, I think it’s the whales, don’t you?" my father responded. "Could be. That’s all I can think of…" More than just their song, we also heard them breathing. Out and in, in and out. Then, just when we thought our senses could be fulfilled no more, there was a splash; a whisp of playfulness advancing across the water. We looked out across the bay, searching. There was no moon, just stars dispersed across the sky as though someone had sprinkled them upon us. The water was unstirred and unwrinkled. It served as a mirror to the sky; suspending us in a sort of never-ending black hole, complemented by a decoration of luminous pinholes. Then, my father and I spotted some phosphorescence dancing across the surface. The dolphins had come to swim and play in the anchorage. They would scratch their backs on our anchor-chain, a rustling that echoed through the water and vibrated through the hull of the boat. Such magnificence of this night had wearied our senses and relaxed us to a point where sleep was only a blink away. With the whales still singing and the dolphins still dancing, we were lulled into a sleep that only a baby knows. A sleep free of all the worries and clutter of everyday life; replaced by the gentle sensation of a day so sweet as candy. Samie Kinney Wand’Rin’Star (John, Julie, Samie and Seager) '94-'01