Short Short Story

Breathing

As I step into the icy waters to ready the boats for the day I see the beauty of what my life has become.  Lost are the days of rush and worry in the city as deadlines become unmovable forces with which one has to live or die by.  The smell of exhaust and the coughing of diesel engines all just an unpleasant memory as the crispness of the air fills my lungs.  The oxygen rich breezes bring back the life that was once just a fading memory of my childhood.  Soon the tourist that long to escape from their world, if only for a moment, will drag themselves to the dock and look out on the mountains hoping to replenish what has been taken from them.  With the rocking of the water and the caress of the breeze by the end of the day some of life's precious exuberance will return.  And for what might seem only a blink of an eye, they will be at peace with the world.