Debut Flash: 'Midnight in Aberystwyth' by STC Chessell

The best time to enjoy the sea was past midnight and beyond when hardly any cars drove past the ghost town and the only company I had was the occasional stray dog or cat sniffing around some rocks or discarded bags.  

I liked to sit on the low wall that separated the beach from the pavement and watched waves of grey foam rush onto the beach like shoals of fish with their tiny mouths wide open. I lost myself listening to the roar, the scream, the surge, the thrashing of the sand and its hissing protests when it was dragged reluctantly back to the sea.

This sea in Aberystwyth was so different from the sea I knew back home in the Central District of Hong Kong where the neon fluorescent lights were permanently reflected on the sea after dark. As the ferries and other small boats passed by, the reflections broke up into countless stars, and then when the sea settled, the stars re-assembled to form images of the high rise corporate blocks with advertisements of Coca Cola and HSBC floating on the sea.

In contrast, the sea in Aberystwyth was pure, unspoilt, primitive and mysterious. In the early hours of the morning when it was just me, the sea, the breeze and hazy darkness, I could almost hear the earth force, the call from the bottom of the sea, a call just for me.