The sands shift softly beneath my feet. I smile to myself as I take a slow and steady breath, drinking in the salty sea air; feeling the soft breeze brush against my skin. It is quiet on this lonely beach, peaceful and soothing to a troubled soul. I hear the sounds of the waves as they curl and crest, and crumble on the wet sands and rocks by the water's edge. High above the lonely screech of the gulls penetrates, but is anything but offensive.

I wrap my arms tightly around myself as I walk, my shoes dangling carefree from my fingertips. Not a worry can reach me here, in my favourite piece of solitude, where the world seems far away; the traffic and lights and bustle of the city a distant memory.

With a sigh, my gaze sweeps the sky, watching the gulls riding the wind effortlessly, swooping low to the water, then rising once again. I watch the water rolling, wave after wave, then my eyes trace the line of the shore, over the rocks, along the dunes, slowly meandering back to me. Bird tracks and little ripples in the sand twist their way playfully towards me, until my lazily drifting gaze is stopped by something resting in the sand.

My step quickens, eyes squinting against the sun, until I reach it where it lays half hidden on the beach. The shell, polished smooth by years of gentle rubbing from the dutiful sea, sits in its simplistic beauty, beckoning the romantic soul that would lift it and listen to the sea captured within it's heart. It is its companion, however, that catches my eye and sets my heart beat racing, for there beside it in the sand is ancient looking bottle, it's cork securely in place, waiting for it's rescuer. The bottle is not empty, and my mind conjures up all manner of images of it's origins.

My romantic soul ponders the ancient penman who's hand may have cast this bottle afloat. Perhaps a lonely sailor, lost at sea, knowing he would never see his loved one again, had set this bottle adrift with the message of his undying love on the rolled up piece of paper held safely within? Perhaps one on some far distant shore, separated from his or her true love by the wide expanse of endless ocean, watched this tiny vessel bobbing atop the cresting waves in hopes that their words of love might eventually reach their intended?

My heart skips a beat, my breath catching in my throat, as I realize that if that be the case, then somewhere some lonely lover may also have waited endlessly, day after day; eyes sweeping the sea for some sign from their Love. Did they ever see each other again? Did they ever feel the touch of familiar fingers against their own? How many years had passed since this solitary messenger left it's home port? How many miles had it traveled, over soft bouncing waves or braving wild crashing storms? How long had it traveled alone and unseen, past giant ocean liners and freighters, an insignificant speck amongst the seaweed in comparison? How brave this little traveler, and yet, ending it's voyage here on this beach.

I sigh, and reach for it, my heart saddened by the thought of two hearts never being reunited, despite the valiant attempt made by this battle weary messenger. Only inches away, my fingers stop, as I crouch above the bottle. Glancing through the coloured glass I see the curled and yellowed paper trapped within. I imagine the hand that placed it there, and the hand that was meant to remove it, neither hand mine. I pull back, looking wistfully through the glass, beyond the message, to the images I have dreamed up, and smile. I shall not tarnish my romantic heart, should the message in the bottle be nothing romantic at all. Slowly, carefully, I back away, and take a sideways course, leaving the bottle untouched in it's final resting place; leaving my dreams and images intact. The sands shift softly beneath my feet as I smile to myself and take a slow and steady breath. It is quiet on this lonely beach, peaceful and soothing to a troubled soul, and I leave it as I found it.