Lulworth Cove was a beautiful place all year round, but it seemed particularly engaging and serene today. The late morning sun had burnt through the mist and the smooth azure sky looked polished and ready for the rest of the day. Whatever that day might bring.
Sandra had parked her car in a car park a short walk away. She’d been down here yesterday, too, but it hadn’t felt right. Maybe she’d been tired after the drive, but it didn’t seem to be the place she recognised and loved. Today, though, was different.
Today, it felt like a new world. It seemed so far disconnected from yesterday to be almost a completely different world. Anyone else might’ve seen that as a sign of new beginnings, of a fresh start. But Sandra knew there could be no new beginnings, no fresh start. Something like she’d been through was always just the beginning of the end.
The torment would always be there. Things like that never went away. They had a lasting, damaging impression on your psyche. When your trust, your belief and your faith are abused in such a way, how can you ever expect to trust again, believe again, have faith again? No blue sky could ever make Sandra want to live in a world like that.
But something had changed. She knew that much. Maybe it was just a sense, a spiritual connection. But the colour of the sky that morning and the sound of the waves crashing against the rock told her that a page had been turned. A new chapter had begun. The story was over. She looked down at the rocks below, watching the water crash over them, the spume calling to her, talking to her. It seemed to be telling her everything was alright. Whispered messages revealed the truth.
She’d never heard the sounds so vibrant, never seen the sky so bright. It marked the turning point. But for her, there could be no turning. She couldn’t go back and there was no way of moving on, either. She’d forever be rooted in what happened, in what was still happening. Ghosts did not simply disappear.
She looked down at the rocks again, and listened as the white spume and crashing waves called to her.
Slowly, she looked up and stepped forward towards the edge, her toes hanging out over the precipice.
She took a deep breath, looked back down at the waves, and answered their call.