Little Wave
Once upon a time there was a little wave, taking its first tentative steps across the surface of the ocean. It scampered and skittered, no more than spume blown by the gusty sea breeze.
Then it began to grow. It was slow at first, just a swelling beneath the surface, but soon it rose and propelled itself, swallowing the water before it.
“Look at me!” cried the wave.
It was so excited that it didn’t notice the other little waves rising around it. But then it saw one big surge galloping ahead of it.
“That older wave is so magnificent,” it thought, “I wonder if it'll be friends with me…”
But the big wave was far ahead and didn't answer when the little wave called out. All the little wave could do was race along behind it, trying to catch up.
The little wave didn't notice that there were other, smaller ripples growing up behind, and calling to it! Their tiny voices were lost on the sea wind.
The wave continued to grow, both in speed and in size.
It could feel the torrents of water passing through it, see the fishes struggling to swim in its wake, and laughed for the sheer joy of it all. It felt the wind tug at its brow and began to feel a mounting excitement as it gathered pace on its mysterious journey.
“I wonder where I'm going?” thought the wave, “it must be somewhere wonderful if everyone around me is trying to get there.’
It looked in admiration at the waves in front of it, all grown up now, peaking and cresting with a mighty roar
.
“Oh will I ever be so big?” it thought.
Well, sure enough, soon it was. The wave rose and a great thundering echoed within it. It looked proudly at the other waves around it and saw that it was one of the biggest in sight.
Then it saw the big wave ahead crash down in a thunderous roar and cause a mighty splash as it collapsed in on itself.
There were people swimming in the sea, jumping up and down in the white wreckage of the other wave, and a man on a board paddling furiously forward.
Our wave roared on, growing far beyond what it had ever thought was possible. There were looks of amazement on the faces of the people in the sea, they had never seen a wave so huge.
Then, beyond the people, the wave saw for the first time where it was heading.
The rocky beach.
“No!” roared the wave, terrified. But it was no longer in control of its own body, and the water at its very crest tipped and toppled over in a lip of angry white churning foam.
The wave felt itself begin to collapse.
It remembered the time when it had just been little without a care in the world.
“Is this all there is?" thought the wave as it fell forward, dying, onto the beach.
But as the remains of the wave spread out, hissing and foaming across the shale, something happened.
The waters began retreating. Suddenly it felt the true expanse of its waters, felt its boundaries on a thousand beaches, felt the movement of millions of fish within its deep fathoms and felt the blowing of the winds across its constantly changing surface. Billions of little waves coursed across its skin.
In that moment it finally knew what it had been all along.
It was the ocean.