The First Time I Saw the Sea

The first time I saw the ocean up close was in Wales, in a little town on the western tip called Rhossili. I went there one fall with my best friend. There were sheep there and horses and lots of cliffs. A steep stairway cut out of the rocks led down to the beach. It was grey and misty and cool. The edges of everything were softened by the mist. You felt like you were there and not there at the same time - like you were living in two worlds that overlapped, but didn't quite line up. You could feel the air on your face, like walking through moist tissues or spiderwebs covered in dew. The inn where we stayed served full English breakfasts and tea with scones and berries and clotted cream. There was an old shipwreck on the beach. Half submerged, it looked like a dinosaur, or a sea monster.