Iced water wraps around my ankles. I wince as my skin recoils in shock.

I close my eyes.

I can hear the gentle breaking of each wave, from the right to the left and somewhere further out to sea.

Children are playing nearby and I can hear their laughter. Do they not feel the cold, I wonder.

The sand is soft underfoot and slowly my skin adjusts.

The sun is warm and the first throes of Spring is here.

So many dragonflies. So many pairs of dragonflies, joined together and flying as one. Promising new life in the days or weeks ahead.

Only a moment I have. I capture the sea sounds like a letter tossed out in a glass bottle.