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To Jumping

A memoir

By Shanoon OcceanPublished 3 years ago 9 min read
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Matala beach in Crete, Greece

I sat on the shore of Matala Beach and looked out at the collage of colors and shapes, waves elegantly cresting before melting into the horizon. It was the type of sunset that would make aliens peering in from a distant galaxy think that the sky was on fire.

A montage of brilliant orange, magenta, lilac and violet made the presence of some sort of aesthetically inclined higher power undeniable. A spectacle so beautiful that all the humans (and animals I suspected) in the vicinity disregarded whatever they were doing to stop and watch this one of a kind, once in a lifetime array.

The vinyasa class I just powered through left me adrift in a wistful meditative haze, the thought dawned on me of how bizarre it is that we never see the same sunset twice. Something about practicing yoga always leaves me feeling truly connected to the subtle dance of all the seen and unseen elements around me. For a brief moment, I let my eyes flutter shut and saw in my mind's eye what it might look like if microcosmic forces amidst the invisible field interconnecting everything in the universe were visible to the human eye. I saw it as holographic, bioluminescent, pulsing, Consistently undulating in an eternal state of flux.

Far out innit?” an Australian voice lulled itself into my thoughts

I opened my eyes to see my newfound friend Sullivan observing me with a whimsical twinge to his eyes

“huh?”

“The yoga practice, pretty far out right? It tends to leave me in quite a daze as well” he chimed as he plopped down next to me.

I couldn’t believe the events of my solo trip to Greece this far. I had arrived two days ago and met arguably one of the most interesting human beings on the planet that same night on a rooftop terrace type of scene. We got lost in conversation for what seemed like hours about all things spiritual and existential which was borderline unbelievable seeing as the majority of people I was used to coming across at bars would rather conversate about politics or what the Kardashians are up to. Greece was different and every bit as magical as I had imagined it would be. Sullivan came to visit the location a year ago from Australia where he was born and raised then decided to miss his flight back home to stay. The fact that he was a wildly interesting character was only exacerbated by his deep voice tantalized with a heavy Australian drawl. So when he invited me to an afternoon group flow on one of the most beautiful beaches around I did my best to sound more nonchalant than downright giddy as I accepted the invite.

“Yea far out to say the least” I affirmed.

“I have a bit of a surprise for you” he declared catching me off guard once again. I smirked, doing a brief scan of him and our surroundings. His hands rested on the ground not appearing to be concealing anything, he had on those short shorts that every guy should wear and nothing else, leaving me with no clue at all as to what he was talking about. I looked up to meet his bemused eyes as he explained the surprise wasn't with him. “It's over there” he said, pointing at the massive cave bearing cliffs in the distance and I chuckled. “Riiight” I mused rolling my eyes. He looked back at me with eyes dead serious and held out his hand.

A flash of doubt crossed my mind before remembering the state of borderline hysteria I went into one afternoon not long ago, after feeling the all of a sudden unbearable weight of monotony that had been bearing down on my existence for far too long. My soul's whispers turned into shrieks beckoning me to live a little. Adventure was why I sold most of my shit to afford this spontaneous trip and told my boss of four years to fuck off when he denied the only vacation request I'd ever made. I quit the same day and flew out the same week. ‘Sometimes you just have to jump’ was how I ended my explanation of the events that led me to Greece to Sullivan that night. I found my hand meeting his and all of a sudden we were running into the sea.

I braced myself for cold water but it was unprecedentedly warm and inviting. I was lost in a fit of giggles and disbelief that this was real life as Sullivan watched me intently, fighting off a fit of giggles himself.

The Ocean appeared surreal, reflecting the 50 different shades of pink that the sky now gloated, waves lazily carrying us further out. “Follow me” Mr. Australia 2019 called as he broke out into a breaststroke that would've left Michael Phelps astonished. I struggled behind him doing my sexiest doggy paddle just in case he caught a glimpse of me whilst effortlessly gliding through the sea and after some time we reached the cliffs.

They were magnificent and easy to navigate, I hoisted myself onto a boulder trying to keep my huffing and puffing discreet. I noticed a look of bewilderment on the Australian gods face.

“Everything alright?” I inquired

“Yes well… it's just that it hadn't dawned on me to formally ask until just now”

“formally ask?”- me

“if you'd fancy a date with a Bogan such as myself”- Mr. Aussie international.

At that moment I spontaneously combusted into butterflies, glitter, joy, love energy and light before reassembling myself and clearing my throat. “Oh uh.. I mean I guess I wouldn't mind that” I said focusing on the drops of water hanging from his impossibly dark thick lashes. His lips spread into this slow sexy grin that almost sent me flying over the edge of the cliff. “ Good. because that's part of the surprise,” he quipped. After a few more much-relished gulps of tantalizing salty air, he showed me to a sort of rope ladder that I climbed up into one of the highest caves in the cliff. My jaw dropped upon entering. Warm twinkly lights ordained the cave walls, mixing with the soft light from candles that filled the cave with aromas of jasmine and vanilla. Huge pillows boasting beautiful mandala designs rested on a hodgepodge of boho rugs making this cave more beautiful and inviting than any Pinterest moodboard I've ever seen. I swallowed a lump in my throat. Surprised wasn't the word. I slowly turned taking in the otherworldly psychedelic and spiritual artwork on the cave walls before meeting his gaze. His expression was indiscernible but if I had to pinpoint it I would go with the word noble. “Sullivan this is incredible” I managed to make out.

He led me to sit as he explained how he stumbled upon this perfect cave a few months ago while exploring the cliffs on a hefty dose of psilocybin. “Some of the art pieces were already here and it inspired me to keep at it. The rest I brought over on a good friend's boat. This location is top secret yea, I only tell the rarest of souls about it.” He was practically out of breath by the time he finished. His eyes were lit up, twinkling like the night sky. “It's truly brilliant Sullivan. I've never seen something like this.” I was overwhelmed taking in the mystical vibes of everything around me. Somehow the sky wasn't finished with its dazzling exposition yet, now boasting shades of purple I had never before witnessed, speckled with stars. I was feeling so elated that for a second I had to ask myself if any of this was actually happening and like he heard my thoughts just in time to rescue me, Sullivan popped into my line of vision. The real reason I brought you up here was to retrieve this buried treasure he mused revealing a bottle of Merlot that read PETRUS in bold funky letters. Again- my jaw dropped. I was a wine enthusiast and I had only heard chatter about this elusive bottle through the grapevine (no pun intended). I thought back to our first conversation at the bar. How one of the things we talked about was wine and how his eyes lit up when I told him how much I loved merlot. “This bottle costs more than the culmination of all the wine I've drank in my entire life I can't let you-” and before I could finish I heard quite possibly the most satisfying cork pop I've ever heard.

My mouth was watering prior to him pouring just a sip into a glass. swirling it around a few times before passing it to me. After my first sip, I practically felt my eyes dilate.

Liquid. Fucking. Gold. I had never in my life tasted anything like that. “Whatdoyou think”? He asked. I considered telling him about how my tastebuds were all individually twerking with pleasure.

“Easy on the crack next glass” I proposed. The sound of his laughter was like music.

I expected him to fill my glass back up, instead he began putting the bottle into one of those cute wine bottle koozies that lit up when he pressed a button, it almost looked like a floaty. “One last thing before we go in on this bottle yea?” He assured bringing back the sexy grin. “Follow me?” he motioned with his head

Oh Sullivan id cheerily follow you into hell

We walked deeper into the cave and eventually it opened up to reveal a clearing on the other side of the cliffs. I was taking in the new scenery when to my disbelief, he chucked the thousand-dollar bottle over the edge. I both surprised and embarrassed myself screaming bloody mary as it went into the water.

Of course he's too good to be true, he's a LUNATIC.

“Relax darling, I love it up here but we can't very well spend the night holed up in a cave” he chuckled and winked at me walking backward dangerously close to the edge “Sulliva-!” before I could make sense of anything he turned launching himself over the edge. I wish I was exaggerating when I say he did a triple backflip in the air before plunging seamlessly into the sea.

I stared over the cliff holding my head in incredulity as he surfaced and cried out to me “Don't think just jump!” We were ridiculously high in the cliffs. The water appeared jet black lit up only by slivers of the suns quickly dissapearing rays and coastal lights. I envisioned myself walking back through the cave, safely climbing down the rope ladder and doggy paddling over to him. He cried out again, this time quoting me “Sometimes you just have to jump!” I don't know if it was the single sip of thousand dollar wine or enthusiasm stemming from the possibility of the night ending with his head in between my thighs but that was enough to convince me.

I jumped.

When I surfaced Sullivan's dazzling grin greeted me and I looked past him to see a giant unicorn shaped inflatable raft with a rainbow paddle. The water glistened, bioluminescence everywhere reminding me of what I saw in my mind's eye just hours earlier.

Sullivan helped me into the raft before he got in himself and draped a towel around my shoulders. Still beaming he took on a pirate's accent “aye mate! The treasure awaits us!” he pointed to something suspended amongst soft waves a few feet away. The bottle! Perfectly supported amongst the glassy waters by its floaty koozie. Once we drifted over to it he pulled out two silicone wine glasses, and poured me a proper glass. I looked into his eyes, my heart beating wildly, euphoria flooding every atom of my being. “Cheers to fucking jumping”

solo travel
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About the Creator

Shanoon Occean

interested in art, ascension and existence.

Fl

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