Opening Line #30:

They were the only ones on the beach, a man and a woman alone, but not together. The air was cold and thick with mist. The man approached the woman, who was sitting on the sand.

"I know what it is you want," she said to him.

"I want nothing from you," he said, and he stopped and stood beside her. "I am just walking on the beach. That way." He pointed north.

"You want nothing?" Her eyes were troubled. "I was sure..."

"Sorry to disappoint you." He started walking.

"Wait!" The woman stood up quickly and the man looked her over. She was young, slender, with dark hair and eyes, dressed casually in slacks and a blouse. Her features were sharp and her expression fierce. She stared at him intently, her eyes ferocious with an emotion he could not fathom.

Attracted by her passion and her unusual good looks he said, "I'm in no hurry."

Her hand clutched his arm and she stared closely at his face.

"What do you want?" he said at last.

"Want!" Her voice was low but passionate. "You ask me that? You know me."

He smiled and shook his head. "I've never seen you before."

Without another word the woman sat down on the beach and gazed into the mist.

"Were you looking for someone? Are you waiting for someone?"

The woman sat staring towards the ocean.

"What's your name?"

The woman sat staring towards the ocean.

The man shrugged but hesitated for a full thirty seconds before he turned and continued his walk.

The woman sat staring towards the ocean.

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Comments: I changed the point of view from "we" to "they" because I didn't notice the "we" as I worked on the story.

I originally had the last line as: "The woman sat staring towards the ocean, her eyes full of tears," but I finally decided I didn't like that explicitness; I preferred the ambiguity and the repetition of the line. All in all it seems a pretty weak effort. I had in mind Eustacia Vye from Hardy's Return of the Native as the model for the woman, but I did not do that vivid character justice here.

My email address is: alan_nicoll@yahoo.com

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