Beaches

Beaches all have one thing in common: water, wind and life.

The waves are a relentless army of snakes, striking the earth before slithering back, ordering the next armada forward.

They transform rocks, one minute coarse, the next as shiny as a polished, brass button.

The wind whips and wavers like the slashing of a thousand swords.

And yet it whispers in the rustling of the golden wattles.

Rocks pools offer shelter for barnacles, blennies and blue-ringed octopi, rising and falling to the sea's commands.

Strong smells of salty water, seaweed and sand scale through my nostrils, tempting me onward. Crabs poke their heads out of their burrows, unable to resist the aromas that amble in their way.

Seagulls wrestle and screech for fish and chips, while other forbearanced, feathered friends fly in formation for food.

When night dawns, crickets trill their melodies, flowers droop in disappointment, and the moon casts her eerie glow across the ocean, erecting an elegant, shimmering scene.