The Irish Connection

The Irish Connection

The sky was a clear sunny day with a few fluffy cotton candy white clouds. The wind was an angry counter point that painted the crests of the incoming waves a frothy white. The waves were crashing loudly over a long row of jagged stones that looked like dragon teeth the dragon's lips as it blew a fine gossamer mist that surrounded her as she ran.

She faintly heard the gunshots over the sound of the waves that crashed continuously into the jagged rocks.

Her beating heart was keeping time with the pounding of the waves.

She felt as if the fine simmering white misty scarf with a briny essence of salt and seaweed was wrapped around her like a scarf.

To her left, the sea-worn jagged rocks seemed to be shielding the beach from the continuous, relentless white capped waves determined to rip them out and drive them ashore.

The paintings of shipwrecks, destruction and death went through her mind.

She looked ahead and let out a groan as she realized that though she might be able to climb up the face of the cliff she would become a dark blue target against the grey streaked stone cliff face.

She would be the fly on the wall waiting to be swatted and the two pursuing gunmen would no doubt use her as a target.

She looked out to where the waves crashed violently over the jagged broken rocks. She knew that her chances of getting past them were slim, but she stepped out of her shoes, ran full speed into the waves, dove and fought her way towards them.

She knew the odds were better than her remaining alive on the beach.

She moved towards the rocks, was rewarded with calm water at the backside of the rocks. She saw an opening between two stone spires, dove down and swam between them. 

She swam with all her might up the face and down the back of the incoming waves. Relief swept over her as she reached the calm haven of the open sea.

As she floated up the face of a wave and back down into the trough she saw nothing but water out to the horizon.

She realized she had escaped death on the beach only to face it out by herself in the cold waters off of the cliffs of Northern Ireland.

There was no one coming to save her.