beautiful man

He was a herculean man with long flaxen hair and pale golden skin that glowed with a certain sheen – a lustre – not unlike a pearl. He seemed lit from within. He stood outside the crowded hotel in a state of half-undress and enacted some kind of dance. It was as though the madness had taken him too far. I didn’t see it happen, but I knew he would be beaten and left for dead, for the man was too beautiful for this world. Sure enough, when next I looked, he was lying in a shallow sea. The water was shadowy and green but so clean and clear, I could see every detail of his being. A weak stream of bubbles escaped from his lips and rose to the surface. I was not certain if he was barely alive, the bubbles his breath, or if his dead body was simply deflating. As I watched, a mermaid creature swam over him. I could not see her face as she was fixated on the beautiful man, but her hair was long and green like seaweed, her skin was cast with an algae-like hue and her scaly, emerald tail shimmered like peacock feathers. She waved her arms over his body, covered him with her hair and embraced him. In her arms, I could see his form reviving, reverting, revisiting his childhood. I knew she would take him to be with her, under the sea. As though she sensed me watching her, the mermaid suddenly looked directly up at me from under the water, startled, and I was surprised to see her face was that of a cat’s – a furry grey face with candescent sea-green eyes. In an instant, she somersaulted and flicked her powerful tail, causing the waters to swirl and sand to rise, clouding the sea, and she and the man disappeared forever into the deep.
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dolphins and the sea

My friend was telling me about an island, only 27 kilometres wide, long or square - I cannot quite recall. The island boasted a luxury resort where the very wealthy went to unwind. As she told me about it, I saw it appear, as though on a cinema screen. I could see an imposing building, probably about forty storeys high and very wide, made of grey stone or cement, and convex in shape, perched atop a tropical island. The image became increasingly clear and large, so that we eventually stepped into the picture - we were on the island, inside the resort, in a viewing room under the building. From there, we gazed out through vast glass windows to the surrounding sea, which was a strikingly beautiful blue, more lapis lazuli than sky. We could see a man swimming alone in the waves, and I wondered at his courage. Without us noticing, the viewing room had become part of the ocean, still enclosed by large glass walls; we now floated on the surface of a bottomless sea. The water was refreshingly cold and spectacularly clear - I could see down into the depths, into the darkness. Although relishing in the crystal waters, I felt somewhat anxious about the creatures that might lurk beneath. I looked around for signs of sharks and, indeed, big fish, perhaps six or seven, came swimming up through the water towards us. As they neared, I could see they were dolphins and knew, in their presence, we were safe. We welcomed them and they us, as they swam around us, close enough to stroke. The dolphins each wore hundreds of iridescent blue-green spots on their backs, and I could see their sharp teeth but did not fear them. One dolphin came close to me, facing me, and I put my arms around it, embracing it. My friend and I felt fortunate, blessed by both the divine sea and the friendship of the dolphins.

shark

I was walking on the shore of a shallow sea and my brother was swimming, not too far out. I saw a fin curve through the blue, and then another. I called out, hopeful he could hear me; hopeful they were dolphin. He swam back toward the shore as more and more black fins appeared. I saw they were sharks and one rushed at him as he climbed out of the water and stepped onto the shore. I screamed and he turned in time to wrestle it, casting it back into the sea. He was alright, but his hands and arms were cut from the sharp teeth of the shark.

lost friend

I was dressing for a night out, but I was tired and late. I sat  - half-dressed - and hurriedly ate a meal, knowing I would be even later. My friend rang to find out where I was; I could somehow see her waiting, standing on a hill, dressed in dark red, the wind blowing her hair. We arranged to meet here instead and, even so, I knew I hadn't enough time. Sure enough, she arrived at the front door well before I was ready - a glamorous figure. We hugged and she looked into my face; she could see that I was tired. I finished dressing, though not well; my clothes were ill-fitting and drab. I had no time to shower or groom, and we left. Arriving at a large concert hall, we were ushered to our seats toward the front of the theatre. Once seated, the usher returned and pointed out a better vantage - seats up toward the back. My friend followed the usher to inspect the seats, while I minded our spot. I lost sight of my friend int he crowd and, knowing the show was soon to start, I went to find her. I couldn't see her anywhere but heard that she was in the foyer, talking with friends. I thought it best to sit down as the curtains were opening. I shuffled through the legs of the seated audience until I reached the two vacant seats, still distracted by the absence of my friend. I was not at all comfortable; in fact, the seat had now elevated so that I was blocking the view of the person behind. I tried to lower it, disrupting the people around me. A couple of people moved and I was somewhat embarrassed. The show began and it was awful: bad acting, dreadful singing and of terrible taste. Someone came to tell me that there had been an accident in the foyer, so - relieved that I could abandon the show - I raced out, thinking my friend had fallen or some such thing.
There had been an accident at sea. I peered out to the horizon and could see ships bottom up and sinking. Ships nose-down, black in a grey ocean. The water had risen and my friend was swept away. She and the others in the foyer were now dragged by a swift current south. About seven people were struggling to stay afloat, powerless against the pull as they rushed through the water, desperately grabbing at anything to aide their plight. I ran along the shore, following them, my friend ever in view. I shouted to her, words of encouragement to buoy her. I followed for miles, running apace, keeping track of her. I thought she was lost.

crocodiles and water rising

I was in a room under my family home. The ocean was just outside, waves encircling the house and rising fast. Soon the water gushed into the house and many people swam out into the sea, meeting the waves head on. Rather than venture out, I swam through the now-open glass sliding doors and climbed on top of a corrugated iron shed to watch the crowd. I was eating dates. A crocodile swam out of the shed and into the ocean. I knew that my family were somewhere in the waves and I hoped that they would make it back alive. Twenty or more crocodiles emerged from the shed and powered out into the waves. One huge crocodile lurked below, circling the shed. It reared up out of the water and snapped giant jaws at me. I threw a date in its direction, which distracted the beast long enough for me to leap off the shed into the water and swim back into the house, where the water had now subsided. I closed the doors. After a time, the survivors of the sea left the water and began a long march away from the ocean. The caravan moved steadily, with purpose, the well aiding the injured. I ran through the crowd, searching for my family, and found my mother being carried on a stretcher by a few of her close friends. To my horror, I saw that her hands and her feet had been dismembered, but she had them with her. She seemed to feel no pain and, in fact, was quite happy, confident that her hands and feet would be reattached. She asked me to look for my father. I ran back along the line until I found him, sitting on a hospital bed watching the crowd file past. His legs had been bitten off and he was hooked up to a drip and another monitoring machine. I was devastated, but again he appeared not to be in pain and was sure that it would all turn out for the best. My brother appeared, also searching for family, and we wondered what to do. We were discussing the cataclysmic event and how each of us had done our best to survive it, when again the waves rose and crashed around us. With no time to lose, we unhooked my father from the various tubes, grabbed the hospital bed and pushed him through the waves, joining the procession away from the ocean. I wondered where my sister was and hoped we would find her.

black sea

B and I were wading in a tranquil sea in the dead of night. There was no moon and it was so dark we could barely see the water let alone what lay beneath. Though the water felt silky and nothing stirred, we grew fearful and decided to climb onto a large pile of sticks for a reprieve. We hauled ourselves up and, as we did, we realised that it was actually was a huge stack of oyster racks, piled one on top of the other. Standing on it, it gave way, the entire structure tipping sideways, plummeting into the water. We jumped out as far from it as we could, diving under the water and swimming as fast as possible away from the looming structure, afraid of being pinned beneath it. I knew that should one of us be trapped, it would mean almost certain death. It was far to dark to find one another under the water. Fortunately, we both out-swam the crashing racks; they collapsed into the water, smashing the sea, disturbing the stillness of the night. We resumed wading and, along the way, B told me that she had an old black dog called China.
Suddenly, I was back on shore, working in a dark office. I was trying to finish some work so that we could go out and join a group of others who were having a fire down by the river. It grew late and I had not finished. B went without me, hoping I would join her. I continued working until, finally, hours later, I realised that I needed to go. I changed into warm clothing and went to find her, wishing that I had not worked for so long. I didn't find her by the river. I went back to the sea where we had waded earlier, but much had changed. There was construction everywhere. Buildings being built, roads, trucks and ships, all in action although it was, by now, quite late at night. I waded into the sea once again and, on the way out, saved a scruffy ginger dog - a terrier - from drowning. I picked him up and carried him, looking for B. Finally I found her sitting in what appeared to be a kind of bus shelter, floating on the shallow water, far out from the shore. She seemed to be dazed. Around her sat a few old people; no one seemed to be very aware of their surroundings. I urged her to come with me, telling her it was time to leave this place. She didn't stir. I put the ginger dog in my basket, and grabbed B's hands, pulling her off the seat. 'Come on,' I said. 'Come on.' I asked her where China was, her old black dog, but we couldn't see him. We waded together, back through the water, calling out for China.

home

B and I were sleeping in the bedroom of what seemed to be a spacious caravan or a boat. In any case, I had the feeling that our home was relocatable, that our current situation was temporary. I woke and looked through the window directly behind our bed head. I could see that we were parked on a road leading to the beach, only about one hundred metres away. The tide was high and giant turquoise waves rose and curled toward the shore. I watched as a surfer braved the mammoth waves, and then saw an enormous shadow riding the wave behind him. It was so vast, dwarfing the man on the board, that I knew it could only be a blue whale, the largest animal on our planet. I woke B to show her as yet another wave rose high above the sea bed, another titanic shadow revealed in the curl of the wave. The waves towered above us, crashing closer and closer until our home was carried by the water, rocking back and forth and butting against the rocks. We were at the mercy of the ocean and cowered under the massive shadows of the whales, which endangered our very lives.

strangers

I was living with my parents in the house we built when I was young. My bed was in their bedroom - 'the main bedroom', as we called it - and their bed was in an adjoining room, where the verandah was in real life. It was the middle of the night and, instead of sleeping, I was walking as quietly as possible around the house, looking at my artwork. I was trying to price the various pieces for sale, doing my best to set a good price with which I was happy, but that I knew would move the work. I noticed that the frames of several paintings needed repair, that the work inside had slipped. After making some decisions, I walked through the dark to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. The mattress was on the floor, as though I was there only temporarily. I noticed that it was warmer than it had been when I first arrived some months before, and that I no longer needed the quilt; it was heaped in the corner. Suddenly I noticed a light - torchlight - beaming about the room. I hid under the quilt and the intruders obviously thought there was no one home, for they immediately began talking loudly and switching on lights downstairs. They flicked on the television and the stereo and the house, in the dead of night, was filled with ugly noise. I went into my parents' room; they were waking, not sure what was going on. They were each holding a cigarette and a packet of tobacco was lying on the bed. They looked surprised, as was I, as neither of them have ever smoked. They put out the butts and we went downstairs to see what was going on. I went first, my temper flaring as I saw two people - a young man and his girlfriend - taking food out of the refrigerator, helping themselves. I raced up to the man, whose horrible energy betrayed the kind of person he was, and shouted at him: This is not a share house, this is a family home. You have no right to be here. Take yourselves out of here. Get out. Instead, he grabbed me around the throat and pushed me up against a wall. I could feel how strong and wiry he was, how pumped up with aggression, and I knew that I was in an extremely dangerous situation. The girl kept laughing, louder and louder. Her mouth was open, screaming with laughter. My parents stood to one side and I knew my father was about to intervene.
Later, I was on a beach. I could see my family (my extended family) swimming in the water, but I sat up on the sand. Finally, my father came to fetch me. We walked down the sand and stepped into the water, which stretched out under a ceiling of rock - a cave of sorts - before continuing on past the cave, out to the ocean. Under the arch of rock, the water was in semi-darkness. It was quite scary, not being able to see properly. I felt bits of weed and other creatures brush past me, and I was not sure that I liked it here. My father assured me that it was alright. After a while, someone came to usher us out. It was another family's turn to swim in the sea. We filed out and up the sand, while a Maori family filed down the sand and into the water. They were also going to give a small performance for their extended family, later in the day, and I wondered if we were to stay to watch. I saw a woman sitting to one side, someone I have not seen for twenty years and whom I was excited to see. I ran over to say hello, but she didn't recognise me. I reminded her of our connection, but she was entirely unenthusiastic. I wished her well and walked away; as I went, I could hear her laughing behind me.

sea creatures

Walking through knee-deep water, ice blue and crystal clear. The body of water, though vast, seemed to be indoors, under a giant roof. Swimming in the water were all kinds of sea life: fish of many sizes and colours, small sharks, striped sea-snakes, neon jelly fish, florid sea horses, and nebulous life forms moving through coral and waving sea grasses.
Later, I was swimming in the ocean, way out at sea. The sky was grey and the water was immeasurably deep and dark. Fear crept into my body, rising within me. I scanned the water for shadows, sensing danger. With my mounting fear, I rose out of the water and found myself sitting on the edge of an old wooden jetty. From there, I could see several huge shadows moving through the water and I realised that I was surrounded by sharks and killer whales. The grey sharks remained submerged, zigzagging menacingly beyond the point at which the waves were breaking, whilst the black and white Orca jumped out of the waves, diving and dancing. Suddenly a killer whale leapt out of the water at the jetty, but a dolphin leapt with it and knocked it away from me, protecting me. I was delighted and, as the dolphin leapt out of the water again, I reached out and touched its skin, feeling it briefly as it descended back into the sea. A third time it reared up out of the water, but this time I could see that it had changed shape, that it was now a predatory shark, perhaps a great white, although not fully grown.