ON THE EDGE
Katherine stood at the very edge of the beach, the ebb
and flow of the moonlit sea echoing her emotions. Each retreating wave dragged
shingle from beneath her feet, and she fought to keep her balance, just as her
mind struggled to maintain equilibrium in its turmoil of thoughts.
How could things have gone so wrong?
She was briefly tempted to let the sea take her, but when the seventh wave knocked her over she scrambled up and back – back to life without him, back to prove she could do it alone.
No man was worth her death.
........................................................................................
Back in my distant adolescence I lived near the sea, and took long moody walks on the beach, thinking how guilty the people in my life would feel if I drowned. That was the nearest I came to contemplating suicide - a passing thought - and telling my family about it would have been inappropriate and cruel.
I am aware that some people in other countries believe every word that is reported about England. The media are only interested in the sensational, of course - there is nothing newsworthy in real public service, performed for decades, without any thought as to how photogenic it is. I am proud to be British and a royalist and, despite their faults, our Royal family is respected and envied in many countries.
