A Ship at Sea.
The sun shone golden red on the horizon, as twilight and the darkness was drawing near. I stood alone atop the summit of the gray cliffs and looked out at sea. In the fading light I saw the sails of a ship fat out at sea; just below the shimmering horizon. She was a clipper, and though I could not regonize her by sight, I could see that she was sailing fast.
All her sails were up, and she was moving fast over the calm water with a fair wind behind her. The ship looked so beautiful and serene, traveling fast in her natural habitat, that I just stood and enjoyed the sight for a while. The clouds were few and scattered; white bales of wool in the sky drifting lazily asunder. Although the ship was travelling at speed, she was moving slowly across my view, becuase of the vast expanse of water that she had to negotiate. She looked like a white swan sailing serenly across the sea, with her sails billowing in the wind.
A seagull was flying far out over the village and the shore, it circled inquiringly and then floated away westward on the breeze. The trees nearby danced a sad waltz to the rhytm of the wind. Their tops touched one another in greeting, and then slowly swayed away again. The sea hushed and roared as the waves crashed on the cliffs and the rocks far below. The waves were topped with white foam, and heaved and pushed against each other endlessly. The dark sea heaved, and struggled with itself, and moved; and yet it never budged an inch.
And still the fair vessel was traversing the water far out at sea. Heading for some unknown destination far beyond the dark waves. In the fading sunlight her full, white sails shone golden and silver. Her rigging was spread like dark cobwebs amidst the canvas. A red flag streamed from her highest mast, and fluttered out in the wind as she sailed.
I stood and watched a short while longer as night fell, and as the ship disapeared between the darkness and the waves. The stars were starting to shimmer above, as I turned and walked away down the hill along the sandy path strewn with pebbles...
