Something magical happened. 

Goosebumps flooded my entire

body, I heard bells, colours were

exploding into vibrancy: suddenly

the prospect of the water was a 

terrifying and drastic inconvenience 

that I had happily avoided. I stood 

and thanked the woman. I didn’t 

want to look at her. I didn’t want 

to remember her, in case I fell in 

love, because then I’d end up back 

on the beach someday.