Hualien

I could feel her. Her low rumbling through my bare feet, her gentle tickle on my soles and toes. And I could hear her. Her boisterous laughter, her suppressed cries blowing, blowing through the messenger wind into my ears.

The sea melted into different shades of blue as it spread and greeted the sky. Closer to shore was a light, almost see-through tone which gradually darkened on the horizon. The waves hurried ashore in a flow of confused foam and white, but almost as quickly retreated, each time advancing further and further, trying to grab and lure me in. I stood tall on top of a boulder, its surface cut and smoothed by the constant bombardment of the sea, wind, and passage of time. Lonely crops of rock bravely peaked out of the ocean, fearlessly bearing the brutal brunt of the Pacific that constantly collided against their determined bodies. Behind me, were the solemn-looking scarred faces of mountains that soared into the skies until their heads played hide and seek with passing cotton clouds.

I breathed deep and absorbed her breath. Pure and salted, slightly moist with a scent of wood soaking. In my open palms I felt her warm handshake, and sprinkles of dews against my exposed arms. She stroked my hair, and brushed against my cheeks. I grew goosebumps and ever fond of her welcoming and embracing presence all around me. In the ocean, in the wind, in the sun, in the sand beneath my feet, and in the air that warmly wrapped around me in a comforting bubble that shielded away all the noise and troubles of the world.

For a moment, I was all alone with nature, and absorbed in her unblemished innocence and beauty.