The Ocean

Once upon a time, there was a guy. Let's say his name was Harry. Actually pretty much all my characters in any of the stories I write are named Harry. Let's go with Greg this time. I like that better. Greg was a good guy. He pretty much had things going well for him. He had a job he enjoyed, along with a decent social life and good friends. Greg had one issue, though. He didn't know how to swim. It wasn't really his fault. He just never had any lessons growing up. He'd always had a bit of a desire to swim and experience what it felt like to be surrounded by the waves and vastness of the ocean, but he never really delved in or even went on a boat because his swimming skills weren't very good. Sometimes, his friends would start to pressure him into going into the ocean with him, but he always declined. He truly loved the water though. He could look at pictures of the ocean for hours upon hours. He dreamed of sailing through the Great Lakes. He longed to go white-water rafting in the Rockies. He watched swimming competitions on TV whenever he could. But he wouldn't go near the water. As time passed, he found that instead of just merely turning down his friends' offers to swim in the ocean with them, he wouldn't even go to the ocean anymore. He was afraid of going, seeing how close he physically was to the magnificence of the ocean, but how far away he was from being able to dive in himself. He was ashamed of his fear. At times it overwhelmed him and he felt trapped between his desire and his fear. He sometimes wished that there was no ocean. Life seemed so much better without it; then he could just enjoy his job and his friends and not have to be concerned about his lack of ability to swim. He thought about taking lessons once in awhile, but he had just had too many bad experiences and bad emotions associated with it to be able to follow through. He didn't want to attempt it and fail. He was afraid of succeeding too. He was afraid of how his life might change if he learned how to swim because he might have to give up some other things in order to pursue that passion. He just wanted the simpleness of life without the ocean.

But the ocean was still there. And it haunted him.