Grace Frideger

Sea of Stars
We slowly moved through the silent street of Sa Calobra, a small village on the Northern
coast of Mallorca, white stucco houses with orange tiled roofs were perched on the hillside
looking out over the glossy black sea. The moon, just approaching its first quarter, had coated the
land with soft shadows. We rounded the corner and slowly walked towards the human sized blue
mouth of the rugged, dank tunnel. To my left sat a knee high rock wall, the only thing between me
and the 100 feet drop to the sloshing black sea. To my right towered a cliff, white, hard, cold. The
darkness emphasized the blue neon light that spilled out of the hole in the rock. The path was
narrow, echoing with each step. The light touched my brothers face, distorting his features,
turning him inhuman. It grabbed my mom, then my dad, then me.
We were spit out the other side and met by the surreal view of a small cove, filled with an
eery rock beach, sloping down to meet the inky sea reflecting the stars and moon. The sound of
the surging ocean dragging the rocks up and then rolling them back down under the water created
a relentless rumbling which gave me an apprehensive feeling of how much power the water held.
My mom, brother and I started walking towards the black abyss, the rocky beach making the
going slow. I turned to look at my dad but was greeted with only the empty air. My eyes fell on a
pile of clothes and then caught his form diving into the foam. I held my breath. WOW! How
cool is this?! echoed back to us. We all started laughing. My Dad, being the swim in every body
of water always kind of guy, had stripped and already launched himself into the sea. We walked
towards him. All you could hear was what sounded like huge waves crashing with immense force
against the cliffs and the reverberation of the rocks. It sounds scary I yelled over the noise to
Domi. He shrugged, I swallowed hard and we turned back to the vague outline of Dad.
I felt my feet rooted to the beach, afraid of the surging mass of water that waited for me. I
breathed. I turned back to Domi and he smiled; my face didn't hold that same glee. He stood up
and hollered Im coming in! All his clothes were left in a pile next to me. I watched his outline
dart into the water. Come on Grace, don't be a wimp! my brother yelled.
I sat there and faced my biggest fear, the unknown. I closed my eyes, took three deep
breaths, and slowly pushed my body off the rocks. I knew that if I didn't go then, face the
uncertainty and jump in anyway, I never would, I'd always be hiding inside my comfort zone. I'd
never have trust in myself to handle the unfamiliarity around any situation, not just this one.
I slowly took off each piece of clothing. I looked up to the cliffs, they looked like claws
grabbing at the stars. I looked at my feet, the stones were cold glass orbs. My mind felt clouded,
as if the salty, humid air had gone in through my ears and made a bubble around my brain. Again I
walked, the crashing became louder.
My toes hit the water and my whole body pulled together in that moment. The bubble in
my brain popped, the stars become brighter, the nerves in my body became calmer. The
immensity of the unknown shrank. 1 breath and whoosh, I ran into what I expected to be a huge
wave, but instead was splashed with only a surge of water that sort of swirled around my knees. I
stopped, confused. I was almost angry that it is so tame; ashamed because my fear was so deep
and upset that in reality it was the opposite. I was also surprised by the warmth of the water, I was
expecting a paralysing cold but was met with the opposite.
I was petrified to jump in, but once I did, it was one of the most freeing things I'd ever
done. As I moved through the water, tiny glowing phosphorescent beads surrounded my body
with each gesture, like I was swimming in the stars. I no longer heard the pounding surf crashing
against the cliffs, but felt comfort seeing the silhouettes of my Dad, Brother and Mom in
their own sea of stars.

Grace Frideger

Sea of Stars