A cool breeze begins to blow, as the sand slipped between my toes and the mist from the ocean drifts lazily towards me, and lightly tickles my face. As I was walking across the cool, wet sand, I stubbed my toe on something hard. Naturally, I was curios as to what it was. So I picked it up and saw that it was a bottle. Not just any bottle though. It was straight at the bottom, and as it reached the top, the bottle turned inward until you reached the opening, which was shut with a cork. Inside of the sandy bottle was a piece of paper. I was intrigued, so I pulled off the cork with a forceful tug. The cork went flying and the bottle dropped to the sand. I picked it up and removed the note. As I unfolded it I started getting very excited, and a thousand guesses as to what it would say flew through my head, like flies around a trash can full of dung. Maybe it will be a treasure map, I thought to myself. Or maybe it will be a distress note. Then it dawned on me, what if this was a last cry for a rescue? What if this was the last evidence of a person who was lost at sea? I quickly dismissed the morbid thoughts from my mind. I unfolded the note faster, just incase. When I opened up the ripped piece of paper I was in shock. The note was from the 1800s. It was a letter to a sailor’s love. His ship was sinking and he quickly wrote her a final goodbye. The letter went like this;

Dear My One True Love,
I am distressed to say that my ship is being eaten by the mighty sea. We were attacked by a band of pirates, and there is a gaping hole in the port side of our ship. This is always how I knew I’d go. Poseidon always had my soul, and now he is redeeming his property. If you ever receive this letter then I want you to know that you are the only one I have ever loved. To me, you are greater than the sea, who was my first love. In many ways you remind me of Her. Your eyes have a calm fury in them that I have only seen while looking out at Her. You can be as rough as a mighty monsoon, or as calm as a bay. Just know that the sea has taken my body, but you will always have my heart. I love you. Farewell.

There was a signature at the bottom, but I couldn’t read the smudged and faded characters. After reading the message my eyes swelled with tears. My heart started to beat faster than a hummingbird’s wings, and my knees got weak. My mother walked over to me and asked what was wrong. I told her that a crab had bitten my toe and it was throbbing. Then I asked to be alone for a little while. With a kiss on the cheek, she left me standing on the windy beach, thinking about this man, and his one true love. And how one of the only things he loved, the sea, had been so cruel, and out of pure jealousy, took his life from his admirer.