Creative Writing: Canyon Gemme's Poem 'Familiar'

Familiar
Canyon Gemme

You have been doing the same climb for years. Scraping your knees on rocks, pulling through the brush. This was your favorite time to do it. Right as the sun was kissing the horizon of the sea, and the sky begin to let go of the night. It is colder than usual today, but you don't mind. The salty air pulls you forward motivating you with its sharp breath. As you come to the top of the cliff, you begin to see the glassy ocean lazily lapping upon a silver beach that seems to come out of a long, jagged cliff that disappears into the sea. You take a deep breath in and close your eyes, letting your imagination run wild. When you open them, the same familiar scenery fills your vision. You watch as an Osprey circles down the side of the cliff, and then it disappears into its jagged side. You are witnessing the gentle waves brush up on the sand, when a small movement catches your eye. At first you don't know what to make of it, it appears to be a black speck dancing along the glowing sand. But as it
comes closer you see it begins to take a shape. It looks human. Two limbs stretch out from the solid torso, one after another, step-by-step. It is within view, and you can clearly make out the shape of a woman. She is tall and lean, and walks with a sort of certainty. She slows to stop, giving you a moment to take in her appearance. She appears to be naked, with long dark hair that flows around her body, making it impossible to tell. You try to identify her face, but it is ever shifting, the skin swirling around her bones, her eyes a shifting in an river of colors. You attempt to shuffle up the rocks to get a better look, lowering yourself to the ground, lizard-like so the girl won't see you, and crawl up the sheer surface. As you get near the edge, your foot slips, sending a small cascade of rocks over the edge, clacking and filling the wind with a sudden outburst of noise. You freeze and the girls body stiffens. Her eyes shoots up towards the cliffs, and her eyes lock on with yours. She has no expression, she just stares you down. You feel weird, almost a Deja vu feeling. It's awkward and decide to say something about it, but right as you are about to the girls facial expression changes. At least you think it does, you can't be sure, being that you can't make out a face in the first place, but she seems almost mystical. She turns away from you and begins to curl herself into a ball. You watch her until she is completely folded up, and sitting on the beach. Then everything is completely and utterly still. The ocean is glassy, no waves washing the sand of the shore, no birds swooping around the cliffs, and no wind, not even a breeze. The cliffs have disappeared and so has beach. All that remains now is a flat blank surface and far as you can see. It is now that it starts. A pattern of movements begins to occur and all you can do is watch in awe. The girl stretches out and lays on the sand. She lifts her chest up, dragging her arms behind her, and then lays flat on her back again. The movement is subtle but the more she repeats it, the bigger it gets. Each time she pulls up, the ocean responds, it's body pulsing up onto the blank space. Once the girl and the ocean are working in unison, she pulls herself all the way up to her feet and spreads them into a squat. She lifts her arms and rolls her head back. With one swift movement she leaps into a spin. She lands and begins to drag her foot in a spiral, it gets bigger and bigger until she has to spin with her foot. As fluid as water, she pulls her foot up in front of her so her leg makes a ninety degree angle. Then all at once, she brings her arms up and slams them down along with her foot. You feel the earth rumble as the blank space in front of you cracks and shivers, color flooding it. The once flat surface has been replaced with silver sand that the girl is now kicking up and laughing in. She spins around with her arms out and looks up at the sky her laughter echoing all around her. She runs backwards and drags her feet. The sand spirals around her foot and slithers up her leg. It makes a ribbon around her until it is just slightly taller than she is. The sand runs up and down her arms, and over her legs, pulling her this way and that. At first it looks like the sand is attacking her, but she makes no effort to fight back. You soon realize that it's not attacking her, but it is instead dancing with her. It spins her round, never letting go of her hand. They weave in and out of each other so naturally it looks rehearsed. The sand spins her one last time before returning into the ground, leaving her confused and searching for it. Deciding that her dance partner issn't going to return, the girl results to dancing alone. She leaps up into the air and lands in a deep lunge, before she pushes up on to one foot, and extends all of her limbs out and rolls her torso down. She stands with her feet apart and brings one arm around her head while she lifts the other one into the air. Her stance is full of power, and no sooner had you thought that, had the rocky jagged cliffs shot out of the sand, pulling higher and higher into the air. The woman pushes both of her palms out, and the cliffs stop rising. She admires her work for a moment and then runs to the edge of the water and raises one pillar out of the water with a gentle flick of the wrist. She laughs and applauds herself, skipping in a circle. Then she motions for something to come to her. She braces for impact but you can't see anything. You wait and watch but still nothing. Suddenly her hair is pulled away from her body, curling and twisting in the- The wind hits you so fast you don't have time to react. You tuck your head as the wind whips your hair and your clothes around you and screams in your ears. It's all you can do to grip the cliff side and watch as the woman stands strong. Abruptly the woman's head snaps to the side, and a scream escapes her mouth, simultaneously the wind stops and you can see what has happened. The beautiful pillar in the ocean she had created just moments ago, had been knocked down by the power of her wind, and was now falling into the ocean in ruins. Another sob escapes her lips and she covers her mouth. She falls to the ground, her body shaking with tears. Each one that hits the ground sprouts a portion of a field, and the longer she cries, the more she becomes surrounded in sea grass. Her shoulders stop shaking and for a long moment, nothing happens. She raises her shaking hands, and with a shout she slams them to the ground. The ground cracks, and she raises her hands to hit the ground again. The crack continues to get bigger, traveling under the sand and up the side of the cliff. Sand is falling through the crack and disappearing into darkness. The woman hits the ground with one last shout, and the whole cliff side splits in two, spreading apart until the space is big enough to put a town in. The woman isn't done yet. She begins to use he arms like snakes, making them slither together and stir the air. You hear a rumble coming form up the canyon, and you soon discover the cause of it. A massive wave breaks out of the river canyon and crashes onto the beach, running all the way into the ocean. The woman watches with satisfaction as her river mass swallows part of her beach. She then turns towards the sky and begins twirling her hands around each other. You watch in horror as the beautiful sky begins to turn grey, dark storm clouds swirl around, the winds are racing, and a bolt of lightning hits the ground only feet away from the woman. She is going to get herself killed! "Stop!" You yell, but she can't hear you over the roar of the wind. You stand up and start to run down the cliff, the sand is flying through the air, giving you tiny cuts on your skin. It's started to rain and the drops sting when they hit you. Another strike of lightning shocked the ground. You are on the sand now, much closer to her, "Stop!" You yell again, this time you don't know if she heard you or not, but she keeps creating the storm. You are right next to her now, and she turns around to face you, confusion, pain, happiness, and anger all splayed across her face. You put your hand on her shoulders, and she puts her hands on your shoulders at the same time. "You have to stop!" The two of you yell at the same time.
You look at her in shock and she looks at you. You pull back away from her, and she takes a step back from you. The storm gets worse, the wind and sand hurt your skin and the rain stings your eyes. You bend over so you can cover your face with your arm for a moment. And when you look up the sand is so thick you can only see her outline. She is crouched over just like you are, you think she is hurt so you push through the storm to her. You place an arm on her shoulder and she does the same for you. When you are both standing you look at her face and you have to hold back a scream of shock. The girl is gone, and the only person who is there is you, you and yourself. You realize that there never was a girl, there was always just you. You have been looking at the actions you were in aware of doing, and just now are you beginning to understand that everything you do has its effect on the
world. The storm comes to a slow and the sky becomes clear. You stand there looking through a mirror. Looking at What you have created, and what you have destroyed. Your other self tilts their head at you and smiles, before turning their back on you and walking away, and finally disappearing into the fog of the sea. Now it is just you, standing alone, on a familiar beach.