I still don’t understand exactly what it was, but it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. At times I thought the water was simply reflecting the multitude of stars glowing overhead. But with every wave of my hand, kick of my foot, or turn of my head, the black water lit up like its own starry night. Had I suddenly become a fairy, able to leave a glowing trail of fairy dust in my wake with every movement? The magic dust changed consistency constantly depending upon the ferocity of movement, from a light dusting to a sticky, viscous, dripping substance that would even stick to the hairs on your arm for a moment and then disappear as if they were never there. Move fast enough and there was no dust, rather, your movements simply glowed. No need for triple AAAs, flashlights or other such nonsense in an environment like this- the phosphorescence and the moon and stars were the benevolent givers of light tonight.
Floating almost weightless in the water, I would attempt to keep my entire body still, so as to emit no light. Given the turbulent nature of the phosphorence, this was difficult.
I awoke the next day, wondering if it had been real and asked others if they had seen it. As I sat in the low tide, rough coral biting my ass, I lifted the sand while it escaped, snaking its way through the spaces above the webs of my fingers and drifting in every direction. Had it been a little more magical, a little more glowing, just a little more beautiful, and had the sun not been shining, the sand escaping from my clutched fists may have bore a resemblance to the phosphorescence of the night before.
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