He sat on the short board staring at the surface of the water in front of him and closed his eyes, savouring the feeling. The summers sun that day had long since faded but the air and the ocean that surrounded him was still warm. Those that had shared this playground had left, bidding farewell with a nod and he finally felt at peace. He’d never planned on being out this long, but the draw of the ocean kept him here and he savoured her embrace and the feeling of being carried wherever the currents took him. Out past the break - the waves lifting him high before dropping again on their journey towards land - left him in a state of grace of sorts. He could hear the low rumble akin to thunder from the distant shoreline where the waves reached the end of their journey having silently moved beneath him moments before. Their journey immeasurable from far out in the ocean and he felt like neptune’s favoured son to be present at their final destination witnessing their fury. Silently they’d travelled with purpose for hundreds ? maybe thousands ? of miles before forming majestically in contact with the shallows, increasing in speed and height as their magnificent natural forces grew, a snarl building to a terrifying and merciless roar before collapsing, berserker to hammer, pulverise and shatter the earth beneath it. Set in motion by the magnetic pull of the moon that would soon be appearing in this sea scape before him as the light continued to fade. He closed his eyes again, let both hands fall to his sides and behind and he raised his chin to the sky and opened all of him to these surroundings and the feelings deep within him. This place, this time, the husk that held his soul was cocooned in this setting and her considered the impermanence of everything. The roll of the waves, the ebb and flow of the ocean waves below him, he allowed his mind to drop now and synch with the slow beat of his own heart. In the swell, far out in the ocean with a panoramic view of the land, the ancient forrest and the mountains of in the distance, it was safe to feel once more. He emitted a long sigh that floated out in front of him and lay down on the board and began to paddle towards the break point. He’d been feeling the sets and knew it was time now. His arms moving quickly pulling the water behind him, he could feel it change, the wave forming as elements within it slowed and began to pull and twist and change its form. The growing daemon battling itself for control. The movement of his hands instinctive, his breathing challenged as he pushed himself and the board that carried him forward and felt the familiar lift from behind as the wave transitioned, growing in size and speed. He could hear it now all around and felt the air chill and lighten as the air became a mix of the wave and the air. The increasing roar of the monster surrounding him now and the movement of the board he lay on he enjoyed feeling this small at the foot of something immovable, greater than he and at its mercy. A place where he didn’t have to think anymore, a place where it was always best not to think, to simply feel and let his body and this place, this shape, unique in every way find some balance between them. In one fluid motion, his hands on the rails pushed and popped him upright and he dug deep to carve into the canvas he found himself enclosed in. His body bent and twisted, his hands instinctively searching for control as he climbed. As the wave built and began to break he fell backwards. At the same moment the wave detonated above him, all around him. As if in slow motion, he fell, floating between spaces. It felt like an eternity to him. His mouth open, consuming a breath as he descended, knowing that what he saw above him was what terrified him and enthralled him equally. As he was buried, crushed, battered and hammered and spun in every direction by the forces within he began to relax and give in to what was. Her face, came into his mind. Her eyes and smile staring at him as they lay consumed by one another. He remembered her giggle when he’d whispered ’there isn’t a single piece of a woman’s body that doesn’t deserve to be kissed’ and nibbled on her neck and the traced the line of her spine south. He remembered the feel of her fingers, tracing the lines of his neck, his chest, his stomach and cupping him as she discovered his body and smiled her wicked smile. Her eyes and smile full of desire as she glanced at him before taking him deep within her mouth. His body bucked and twisted once more in response to the internal struggles in the belly of the wave but his mind had taken him to that place with her. Fingers low on him, stroking and searching and cradling his body as she gripped him and caressed every part of his sex with her tongue and lips. The way her hair fell over her eyes as they searched for him, his pleasure, her eyes on his as her tongue and lips worked him, his body. Feeding her need for him, her desire to take him, all of him into her, to savour every drop of him. He felt his hips rise, pushing more of him into her, his hand pushing her hair away so his eyes could enjoy hers, enjoy her. This woman feasting on him and the pleasure she enjoyed giving. He gasped and held his breath as he felt his entire body begin to spasm with ecstasy, his head thrown back, his feet pushing down. It came without warning, the sickening bone shuddering impact of his body being hammered into the sand beneath and he was snapped back into a place that was cold and painful. He was alone and left fighting within this place for air now and he moved instinctively away from where he’d felt the impact using his hands to guide his way. All around him was darkness. The shadows, the darkness of the sky ? the depths of the ocean ? he’d truly no way of knowing where he was but knew to trust his instincts and finally broke the surface of the water and gasped the air giving him life. He grabbed his board and with the uninjured shoulder pulled himself onto it and ducked into the wall of water than appeared above him. The perpetual motion of these waves was both beautiful and terrifying and natural. In so many ways he could trust them. Their actions were natural, fair and without judgement. These were not monsters that lay under a bed waiting and whispering. These were monsters that had travelled across an ocean to stand tall, to be challenged, to be truly savoured and to humble. This place, these elements and their eternal movement across the ocean to this point was where nature still ruled with primal ferocity for all the ages.