The Jazz Lounge

Sit long enough in one spot on the seafront and life comes to you. And so it was one misty morning when a seal popped up. The tide was in, the sea was calm, and he was right in front of me some 20 yards away. He looked straight at me with a quizzical air (at first I though he must be a music teacher). We both stared at each other for quite a while although in reality it was a matter of seconds. And as quickly as he arrived he vanished beneath the water.

A few moments later a strolling couple asked if I had seen the seal? They had seen it a few hundred yards down the beach and they thought that it was moving towards the pier. The three of us stared into the water. Suddenly the seal was there again but some yards further to the right. He dived again and we all stared at the spot where he last was. Next he appeared 30 yards to our left. Excited shouts of "there he is" drew other beach users to our throng. Soon there was a small crowd of watchers. The seal, seeming to enjoy the sport, kept popping up in unexpected places. Some of the watchers became frustrated as they were always looking in the wrong spot when he (I have no idea if it was a 'he') surfaced - it was a misty morning after all.

A few minutes later a group of 'wild swimmers' turned up and had already heard the news about the seal. "Is it still here?" they asked excitedly. "Well, it was until the large shark turned up" I said. The swimmers all went to waters edge, stood there for a long time, and just stared at the sea. I felt quite bad and returned to playing the song 'Misty'