Jimmy Han, RDF International School

The ocean spread out endlessly in every single direction for hundreds of miles around as the sun hung on the afternoon sky. Its rays streaked across the clear blue sky, coloring the clouds with a hint of gold. So bright the sun shone, it made the sea shimmer like a thousand candlelights dancing in the wind.

Rocking gently in the waves, a fisherman stood up in his boat, went and set down his sail, then retracted his oars. And for a second he turned and studied the glorious, shining ocean.

There was no other place more generous to him than the ocean. It gave him everything it has. When he was hungry, the ocean supplied him with fish. When he needed money, the ocean offered him pearls. When he needed salt, the ocean gave him all the salt he would ever need for generations. No man would get close to be even half as generous as her, and for this reason, he loved and respected the ocean. He never felt alone here, because the ocean was his friend, his family, and his home.

He took out a wooden handle wrapped in a thick braided line, and at the end of the line, a hook clipped on to the handle’s Y-shaped base. He took the hook and brought out a live shrimp he used as bait, which wriggled in his hands. He looked at the shrimp and thanked the ocean again, before hooking it up. He tossed it into the vast sea and the shrimp swam, carried gently by the soft currents, and ever so slowly, sank, weighed down by the hook.

He placed his handle into a slot on the side of the boat, its line spiraling out slowly, synchronizing with the soft waves as the bait got carried out with the current.

Then, a wave of energy ran through his brain, his vision cleared until he could capture the finest detail of everything. His other senses brought him back to maximum function. He could feel every wave slapping against the boat, rocking it gently like a cradle. He could see the seagulls in the distance, and admire their feathers, white as snow. He could look up and gasp in awe as the clouds changed infinitely, indefinitely, while painted by the sun with gold, yellow, and orange. It all now, at that moment looked so colorful and full of life.

That was the best gift the ocean has given him, and it was the ocean itself.