December 27, 2004

day5-the Fall

There was a Fall which terrified Patrick and which I somehow survived. We were near the edge of a harbor below the cliff, taking pictures of the 13th century fortress nesting on a steep cliff, when Patrick warned me of a big wave coming to splash us. I stepped back to stay dry, and the next moment, I was on the concrete ground two feet below where I had been standing. Miraculously, I didn't crack open my skull, nor did I smash my camera which I was holding in my hand. I only scratched an elbow and a knee, and my camera added a legion d'honour a millimeter off the lens (pfew!). And that was it. Or so I thought. It shocked me nonetheless, so it took me some effort to contain the shake of my knees and put smile on my face in order to assure terrified Patrick that I was all right. "Thank God I didn't kill myself or destroy the camera," I joked. (It was a joke because neither of us believe in Gods or Goddesses of any sort, but the word almost seemed appropriate.) With my sleeve rolled up lest it get smeared with blood from the scratch, we started to climb the long and shady stairs leading to the fortress. From the cliff, seagulls were casting half sympathetic, half mocking gazes of the superior upon the clumsiness of poor wingless creatures that I just displayed.

fortress of St. Marguerite Island
Originally uploaded by uBookworm.


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