The Call of the Sea

Of all things that drive men to the sea, the most common disaster, I've come to learn, is women. I've seen countless men abandon the comforts of land to follow the winds and the tides, all in the name of a woman. Some, to find an escape. Some, to provide support. And some, to prove their worth and win win a girl’s heart- and her hand. Sadly, this story is not of the latter case. It is a story of a man, trapped in the confines of a life on land. He stands at the window of the cottage he and his wife live in with their three children. Two boys, and a little girl. Although their house stands at the edge of town, set away from the coast, the cold briny scent of the ocean tinges the evening air. It rolls in with the fog from the sea, borne on coastal winds. He closes his eyes and inhales deeply, imagining that he can hear the crashing of the waves as they break against the rocky shore. “Come to bed,” his wife calls from the other side of the room. She holds a flickering candle, and in its light his face is cast into partial shadow. “In a minute,” he mumbles, pulling on his boots. He is overcome with an insatiable urge, a deep and pulling need, to see the ocean and feel its cold spray on his face. Saltwater runs in his veins, and the sea calls him, pulling him along like the ebb and flow of the tides at the mercy of the moon. As the night deepens, he trudges along the roads of the town. His strides lengthen as he passes onto the path leading down to the ocean, and he seems to stand a little straighter. Again, he breathes deeply, and it’s as if he feels a loosening in his soul. A weight he didn't know he’d been holding has been taken off his shoulders, and he feels newly freed. He reaches the shore, and stands at the edge of the surf. The waves lap at his boots, like the playful caress of a lover calling to him. The sea enchants him. His father and grandfather and countless others before him had been sailors. His heart was the heart of the ocean, and its call was irresistible. Shaking himself from the stupor of the sea, he clambered aboard a small sailing boat, and set out into the roiling ocean. The boat leapt to life under his experienced hands, skimming along the waves and carrying him out into the bay. He was soon borne away by the waves and lost in darkness and distance.