I can still remember the whiteness of her bathing costume which enhanced her tan and soft curves of her youth. Hair, naturally blonde, had draped slender shoulders. Eyes, green and alert, had shone with warmth and the joy of living.

There were many hot afternoons resting in shadows talking about our future and our personal dreams. Then there were the nights, gazing up at the sky and wakening stars. All these memories crowd inside my head in a kaleidoscope of images, images that will always stay with me; images I'm unable to erase.

At the age of fourteen, Sarah went away on her first foreign holiday. On the day of her departure, the sky seemed darker somehow. That night I had a nightmare and acrid smoke billowed as bright sparks of fire danced like evil imps around Sarah's hair. Then the nightmare exploded into red, seering light and when I awoke,I found my father standing over me with deep sorrow etched upon his face.

'There's been a terrible accident,' he told me, wiping my damp cheeks with a handkerchief but I couldn't speak. I couldn't admit that my whole world had ended at that precise moment.

But Sarah has returned to me. Although she won't acknowledge my presence, I watch over her. I still live in the same house I lived in as a child. Neighbours come and go but I will always remain.

When Sarah moved back she made a new firned: an awkward girl with mousey hair and an angular body. The friend is like a devoted disciple walking in the beautiful shadow of Sarah. On warm days, they sit on the beach and Sarah appears oblivious to admiiring glances cast her way. But her friend is aware. I can see it in the stiffness of her stance and I, also aware,keep constant vigil.

This summer has been long and hot. Sand shimmers around red forms languishing on beach towels. Today a group of lads are drinking from cans of lager in a shelter. They shout out to Sarah who wears a white bathing costume and paddling at the water's edge, pretends not to hear them.

Suddenly one lad breaks away from the group and swaggers down to Sarah, passing by her friend as if she's invisible. I can see Sarah laughing. Their shoulders touch. Handing her his lager,they stay there while her friend sits huddled on the sand.

Now I see them move away. The lad puts his arm around Sarah's shoulders. They walk past Sarah's friend as if she's not there and reach a rough path leading to the dunes.

The binoculars are in my hand, trembles. I want to shout out a word of warning to Sarah and her friend now getting up, brushing sand from her pale, bony legs, follows. When she reaches the rough path, she stops, double-backs and panic grips me.

Racing out of my home, I pass Sarah's friend and sense her sadness and isolation but I can't stop, I must keep going in the hope I can save my Sarah before it's too late.

My feet pound on tough grass. A skylark rises. startled by my sudden intrusion. Grasshoppers click as if realising my urgency. I clamber up a dune and breathless, I look down into a hollow. The lad's mouth slobbers over Sarah's lovely face. A spade-like hand rests upon her exposed breast. I hear Sarah moan and that sound spurs me on down the dune into the hollow.

'Sarah!' I cry, hauling the lad from her. 'Sarah, are you all right?'

The lad struggles to his feet, his stench of sweat mingling the cheap scent of aftershave. 'Who the hell is she?' he shouts.

And Sarah, still lying on the grass, glares up at me. 'What do you think you're playing at?' Her voice sounds coarse not the sweet gentle tones I once loved.

She sits up, eyes flashing like amber nuggets and draws her mouth into a tight, angry line. Then she gets to her feet, jabbing an accusing finger at me.

'Always bloody spying! Always lurking.' And as he tosses her head, I catch the glimpse of black roots in her hair.

'Is she your mother?' the lad asks.

'Course she's not,' comes the sneering reply. 'She's just a nutter living next door to me.'

Turning, I blindly stumble away and their laughter brings a ragged pain into my throat. When I reach the path, I see the dejected figure of her friend who still waits but I dare not stop. I dare not look at her face. I keep on running.