SeiMinuet

The sea hissed, unanswered. As far as he could see, up to the rocky cliffs that piled some distance to the left, and to the meandering shoreline that shrunk away into the horizon on his right, the beach was devoid of the gangly bodies of summer visitors that often littered other such locations. And so, the thunderous whisper of the sea was all he heard. Standing this close, where the chilling tide first submerged his feet and then dragged the grains of sand from beneath them, the saltspray stung his eyes, crowded his lungs. It smelled as the ocean does, that pungent breeze of fish and seaweed and — yes — salt. That scent was enough to invoke the memories, the taste: not the tart sampling one might experience after an adventurous dive, but the overwhelming rush of ocean water on his tongue, so sharp a flavor that he struggled not to recoil in mere recollection. Salt, pure liquid salt filling the cavern of his mouth, pushing back against his throat. He watched as the waves grew and