The Shore | Teen Ink

The Shore

May 24, 2010
By Bassoonkelley GOLD, Tampa, Florida
Bassoonkelley GOLD, Tampa, Florida
15 articles 0 photos 49 comments

The sun gleamed off the ocean water, and with one sultry glare she turned the sands raspy texture to that of glossy plastic.
I planted my toes deep within the shore, trying to force myself beneath the earth.
The breeze wrapped around my shoulders, and I leaned my weight into it.
This place makes me think of everything all at once.
About broken childhood toys, my brother's coin collection, raccoons digging through our rubbish bins, my loose teeth. Time struggles to continue here, I think, just like when you're young and you try to run underwater.
It makes me, obligates me, to remember that first time she'd gotten sick. I'd held the loose frame of my mother in my arms, whispering frantically that'd she be okay, she'd be okay. My mother nodded weakly in agreeance but even then I could see the color leaving her blouse.
This beach, this goddamn beach. We'd spent so many summers vacationing her, and now it's a tomb. Bits of her teeth and her legs and her hair all mixed in with the sand, the dog piss, the beer bottles.
I'd had a mother. One that hugs you and smells like clean linens and makes the best scrambled eggs. Then I had a room in a hospital, and then a box, and then charcoal sand. And now I've got broken sea shells and this grey-scale green water and it isn't a fair trade at all.


The author's comments:
Forced myself to write on an off day - didn't edit it at all, just one fluid chunk all at once.

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This article has 2 comments.


on Sep. 5 2012 at 4:04 pm
encupcake SILVER, Surrey, Other
7 articles 3 photos 4 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
Groucho Marx

Wow. You wrote this on an off day??? You seriously have talent. Seriously.

LastChapter said...
on Oct. 27 2010 at 4:19 pm
LastChapter, Hempstead, New York
0 articles 0 photos 215 comments

Favorite Quote:
(couldn't think of anything better at the time) "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."-Dr.Martin Luther King Jr.

im amazed at how many of your pieces aren't published. this is seriously good.