It was Sarah's 19th birthday. She had just had a fight with her father and run out of the cottage. She went down the old brick path and just kept running. An hour or so passed when she realized that she was not sure of where she was and was definitely not sure of where she was going. Her long hair was blowing straight out as she walked into the wind and up to the edge of a great cliff over looking sea. She had the feeling of freedom here. She looked at the gulls soaring near her and imagined herself held aloft by the strong winds.
Lying down on the grass, she enjoyed the noon day sun. She lowered the neckline on her chemise so as to not have a blatant tan line. Her body warmed and her mind calmed down. All was right with the world. She stood back up and began to walk along the cliff line. Finding a path down to the shore she took it. She could at least come home with clams for dinner.
She was so busy looking for clams that she did not see the dark clouds heading her way or the flashes of light inside them, but when the storm hit the short it about knocked her off her feet. Her bundle of clams fell out of her hand as the massive wave rolled her up the beach and into the rocks.
She recovered herself as fast as possible and started looking for some place to get up the cliff, but the waves were coming faster and faster.
Her shoes sand into the sand as the wave rolled back into the ocean. She left them because of the size of the next wave. She could see it long before it crashed in at her feet, knocking her down again, trying to drag her back into the watery depths. The sky was dark, the wind was cold, and all of her peace of mind was set to finding a way to live.
Lightning flashed across the sky and a shadow of a man seemed to be standing in the waves. He was not being bashed around. But then it was dark again and there was no way a man could withstand the forces of the wind. The next wave caught her and smashed her up against the rock, tearing her bodice, skirt, and flesh on the barnacles.
She stood as fast as she could and ran until the next wave hit her, again carrying her into the sharp rocks.
This time when the lightning flashed the man seemed to be right on top of her. He held out one hand and the waves crashed around them, not hitting them. The air was almost still near him. His eyes were green and shown like the emerald sea in the noon day sun. his hair long and bright. The wind moved through him, not against him, as if he were one with the wind.
He reached down and picked her up. His arms were strong and hard. His hands rough, but not like sandpaper. His cotton shirt almost dry in the torrential down poor, his body warmed hers.
He carried her down the beach a ways to a small cove and placed her on the sand. The lightning crashes again, and Sarah instinctively curls into his arms. He holds her tight. The wind and waves bash upon the shore near them. She only can see his shining face when the lightning lights up the sky. He is smiling, looking into her eyes.