en
español
~
In Our Own Words
Living With Literature/Writing Our Stories
SELECTION SIX
In response to “Beauty: When the Other Dancer is the Self," by Alice Walker
The south coast of South Africa is not called the Wild Coast for nothing. When I was 10, I was carried out to sea by a ferocious undertow.
I could feel the current flushing the sand from under my bare feet. The waves carried me out in spite of my struggles to get a foothold and walk to shore. Looking at the white crests around me, I thought,“It’s been a nice life, but short!” Oddly, I was not afraid.
Then I felt the powerful grip of a hand on my arm. The lifeguard had noticed me. The next thing I remember was my mother’s angry spanking, back on shore.
The logic of her reaction puzzled me for years, until I had my own children!
by LH