Drifting Free

You told me nothing except that we are going to spend the night at the beach. Normally I like to be in complete control of my life and don't like surprises. But you were determined and had made all the arrangements. It took only an hour to drive to the coast and find the small, beach-side hotel you had booked.

It was four o'clock in the afternoon and the heat was beginning to go out of the sun. I was surprised when you said we were going to go lie on the beach, and that I should put on my bikini. What the hell, I thought, I had let you order me around this far, I might as well play it out.

We walked down the beach and around a point of land. There on the other side was a small cove, and anchored in the cove was an enormous yacht. The water must have been deep because the yacht was only two hundred yards from the shore. It was a brilliant white, at least three stories high at the bow, with a large canopied deck at the stern. I guessed it was over a hundred feet long.

A small group of elegantly dressed people were having a party on the aft deck. There seemed to be two women and about twice as many men. They looked at us with great interest as we appeared on the beach. I could hear their mingled voices, talking and laughing as they faced the shore. One of the women gave an excited little shriek. One of the men raised a pair of binoculars.

Then I noticed something else. There was a one person rubber life raft on the sand near the water. I thin rope led from the raft into the water in the direction of the yacht. My first thought was that someone had come ashore, but no one was visible in any direction. It was like I had walked into another world.

"Come," you said authoritatively, and led me by the hand toward the raft. "Lie down in the raft on your back. It will be very comfortable for sun bathing."

In my semi-hypnotic state I obeyed. I was able to stretch out my full length, with my head resting on the rounded side. My arms dangled over onto the sand.

"I want you to close your eyes and relax completely," you said. "The sun is still very warm, but not hot enough to burn you. I am going to sit beside you and talk to you, but you do not have to respond. This afternoon is going to be very special for you."

It was already pretty special. You had never taken over our activities as you had that day. Obviously you had set up this scene, and I was very curious to see where it was leading. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The sun felt wonderful. The tide was rising with almost no surf, and the warm water slapped gently against the bottom of the raft.

You caressed my arm. "Think of the people on the yacht, how powerful the men must be to have a ship like that. Think about why there are more men than women out there."

I sighed. You knew my fantasies too well. I let my mind focus on your question and didn't notice when you slipped a noose over my left wrist. In my imagination I was one of the women entertaining and flirting with the men. Of course I was the prettiest and sexiest and getting most of the attention. Then you slipped a noose over my right wrist.

This time I felt it and opened my eyes. It was too late. You pulled on a cord and my wrists were made fast to the sides of the raft.

"Don't be alarmed," you said. "I am here to watch over you. You are going to have an experience that is going to free you, both symbolically and literally."

"What? Why have you tied me?" It was surreal.

You smiled at me confidently. The tinge of anger in my tone of voice did not faze you. "You are stuck on the sand. The weight of your body holds down the raft against the water that wants to raise it. But the tide will keep rising. At some point the water will lift you and the raft off the sand. You will drift free."

"And then?"

"And then the captain of the yacht will pull his raft back to the ship. You will be the catch of the day for his guests. I will swim out to watch."

"Oh god...."

For two hours you talked to me and told me stories about the people on the yacht. They had money and power and could do whatever they wanted. I lay there in my trance-like state feeling a combination of apprehension and excitement. The raft began to shift and twist on the sand as the water rose. Then, just as horizon began to nibble at the sun, the raft broke free.