1/?
Pastor Geraldson's youngest daughter sat with her knees hugged to her chest on the grey sand. The tide was a few hours away from her feet, but she flinched just slightly at its every approach. Her hair was coiled from the salt air -- something she despised about herself, but couldn't avoid. She tugged at a lock on the side, an old habit, until she felt one pop out.
Her eyes were fixed on the spot the ocean met the sky -- the trip of a lifetime for a child -- when her mother tugged at her arm. "No pull," the woman scolded, biting her tongue. "Don't. Don't pull."
The congregation was quite a way off, waist-deep in the sea. A large man stood furthest out, still waist deep, with an infant in his arms. He was speaking loudly, but was still lost in the surf to his wife and daughter. His eldest daughter stood among the crowd. The younger was deathly afraid of water and would shriek incessantly if brought out too far. "... And at that moment, you were both dying and being born!" That was the end of the sermon. Su Xing didn't know why he chose that passage; she thought it was much too short and not nearly worth the bravado.
Fri Apr 17, 2015 4:45 pm