Sunday, April 6, 2014

Nightfall

The crisp autumn breeze blowing from the south seemed to have been pricking deeper and deeper into his cheek as he was gazing across the western horizon.  Amidst the chilly gust of wind that had been filtering through his hooded jumper, the scene in front of him was, at that moment—priceless!  On the left, the Henley Beach Jetty was gradually turning into a mere silhouette as the lower brim of the perfectly rounded, orange-tinted, early evening sun started to touch the surface and eventually melted down the Gulf St. Vincent.

A small group of kids next to him was tossing and passing a colourful inflatable beach ball.  Then suddenly, they giggled with excitement.  Their noise had frightened a massive flock of hungry seagulls nearby—prompting them to fly off squawking until their discordant vocalisation muffled, overpowered by the sound of surf rushing on the shore. 

He was ‘alone’—sitting on a carpet of a relatively vast, well-maintained lawn next to the beach, while his friend was away for a short jog.  The blades of the grass were stabbing through his beach trousers but he had managed to ignore it while focusing to enjoy the 4D movie around him. 

There were fishermen on the jetty, and there was a couple sitting on one of the wooden benches… a busy Japanese photographer aiming at his subjects… a young family pushing an infant stroller… a group of sexy ladies finishing up their volleyball match…  Others were sipping coffee at the café across the road, while the rest had opted to start dining— undeliberately overlooking the beautiful sunset from the cozy restaurant by the street.

By the looks of it, it was, indeed, a piece of paradise!  But he was not convinced, for him it was temporary.  After sunset, he knew that it’d get darker and darker… and the lamp posts wouldn’t be enough to illuminate the beauty of this place.  The cafés and the restaurants would soon shut off, then each of these characters would finally head home. 

A huge volume of his lecture notes was waiting on his study desk... and he was certain that everybody on the beach, even the children, would have his or her own challenges to face soon after that lovely weekend would be over.

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