Once Upon a Time -- One Bogged Down Life

For quite a few years, you had been taking long walks on sandy and boundless beaches. Vast expanses of smooth sand deserts at low tide. Nothing to block out your steps. You could walk straight on. Every step was broadening your horizon. No need to look down.

There were difficult days sometimes. Cold and windy and rainy days mainly. But even the densest fog never slowed you down. You kept on walking.

Then one day, you decided that enough was enough. Life was getting far too simple and easy. Nothing much to gain anymore in trekking on those sands that had become so familiar. You could still make progress and reach your goal with your eyes closed so to speak.

You became restless. You had to find new places to roam around. You were done with easiness, flat and serene spaces.

Search you did. And then it happened. A place like this. The place. Your place from then on.

It really had to become your place. From the top of the cliff, it looked so beautiful and strange. This truly was the bottom of the sea only brought to light for a few hours every day. Periods that you had to anticipate and make the most of.

So many things to discover in such a short time. 

Dunes to follow and rocks to go over. Coves to explore.

Briny streams to cross. 

An ever-changing wild setting. Such an untamed and somewhat virgin territory.

From time to time walking was exhausting. On its way in and out the sea kneaded the sand so much that it became very soft and supple. From time to time, you ended up sinking up to your ankles. So much like trudging through the snow... And you loved that.

 

Then there were storms. So violent and so beautiful that you even forgot some basic safety rules. You kept walking beneath downpours because there was no shelter there. You simply had to keep walking.

And then one day, it happened. Your first encounter with sludge. The receding sea was disclosing the true nature of the place. A secret so well kept underneath those large bewitching stretches of sand.


Easy to avoid though.

But from then onward you became more cautious. This enchanting scenery could be concealing traps.

Most walks were great. You now knew how to avoid those miry areas. Until that day. The day when you were peacefully and felicitously on your way to your favorite place.

The tide was receding and there still was water on the sand. Not much but enough to hide this greyish smudge. Almost invisible to your eye.

You took one step and you started to slip. You had such a hard time keeping your balance. The sand still looked a lot like sand but sludge was already showing on its surface... very delicately at first but it became more and more apparent as soon as you realized the danger you were facing. 

Sludge was everywhere and so perfectly hidden below a very thin layer of sand. You were trapped. You had to carry on walking though on such an uncertain ground. You had to keep walking not knowing when or where you’d be able to come out of this quagmire.

Your troubles were far from being over. From time to time, the sludge would metamorphose into some sort of quicksand where you’d get bogged down.

Quagmire and quicksands.

That was going too far. There actually was a moment’s panic. But you needed to keep a cool head. No easy way out of course but you always were bright and astute.

And then you saw the bird. So elegant and yet apparently trapped in the same slough...

 The bird was not ensnared after all because right in front of your eyes, it flew away to safety.

And you made a decision in no time at all. You knew now how to escape thus reaching safety.

All you needed to do was to fly away too. Did you?

*Good Night, and Good Luck*