Sitting
on the back seat of my mom’s silver Audi, I was amazed by the spectacular
scenery outside of the window. A world covered entirely by the azure blue. A
world surrounded only by nature. That was the destination of our vacation –
Hualien coastal beach.
After
the car was parked, I directly dashed to the beach and gazed into the
mysterious blue in front of me. As my feet softly stepped into the ocean, the
water immediately delivered a chill down to my warm body. Shivering with cold, I
grabbed my jacket more tightly. The sand beneath my feet, with some light-colored,
crushed pebbles, was comfortable yet prickly, but it did not kept me from
moving forward step by step until the water covered my entire feet. Staring out
at the ocean, waves with different frequencies splashed against my calves
gently and rhythmically, as if it was the pendulum swinging inside the antique
clock, which never seemed to stop. I frowned, as the cold, salty breeze, which
hit my face when I tried to scream out my name, gave me a taste of salt and
bitterness. There was nothing surrounding me apart from silence and the curling
water. I stood there like an enchanted doll, watching the waves changing the
shoreline, until the crimson sun disappeared beyond the horizon.
On the next few days, I continued to
spend my time at this mysterious paradise. As I strolled along the seashore,
the footprints I left behind were slowly washed away by the waves coming from
that unfathomable ocean. Sometimes tiny hermit crabs crawling numbly out from different
holes beside the shore and playing hide-and-seek with their predators. Some
were lucky enough to return to the sea, but unfortunately most of them were eaten
by ravenous seagulls, left with countless shattered shells along the beach.
While mourning for those dead creatures, a shimmer of light beneath the sand suddenly
caught my eyes. I started to dig it up with my bare hands. It was a cream-colored
seashell with attractive golden symmetrical patterns on the top. Even though the
water had already washed out its glow, the shell itself was still beautiful. I
held it preciously close to my ear, not knowing what to expect from this
delicate treasure. Surprisingly, sounds began to come out from the shell. The
echo of tidal waves splashing against the shore, the scream of seagulls, the
steady rhythm of my own heartbeat, all combined to make a piece of harmonious
melody. I then slowly closed my eyes and cheerfully enjoyed the music sent from
nature. And I kept that shell close with me for the rest of my vacation.
It was a relatively normal yet
inspirational experience in my life. A moment when I realized that nature could
have such a strong impact on human lives and how happiness could be contained in
such a simple form.
