"Then"
The sand and cool water oozed between my toes and gave way to my heavy footfalls as I walked into the morning sunrise. Behind me the sky was blood red, illuminated by the setting sun in the west. Beside me a massive black stallion plodded along and it made little noise as its thundering hoof beats were silenced by the same sand and waves that cushioned my bare feet. Its obsidian black heavy armor absorbed the morning light and nary a single glint of the eastern sunrise reflected off of it.
Behind me trailed a thin blood red tube and it was visible all the way to the western horizon. I looked down and saw that the tube was connected to a needle that had been inserted into my elbow joint and then taped into my arm. I don’t know if the blood in the tube is flowing into my body or out of it, but it really doesn’t seem to matter.
The waves rippled against the shore seemingly softly chanting, ‘carry on, oh carry on.’ Over and over they delicately crashed against the pure white sand and over and over and the air was filled with their sighs, ‘carry on, oh carry on.’ The sounds reverberated through the still morning air as I continued to march forward.
Ahead of me, running along the shore as far as the eye could see were the remains of an ancient sea wall. It arched away from me and as I neared closer to its first broken stones, I could see that the waves were slowly moving closer and closer to it.
In my mind I heard the soft whisper of a woman’s voice saying, “I came to a fork in the road and I was presented with a unique and often overlooked choice, the path of least resistance or one untrodden for ages hence to come, I chose the untrodden path.” At this, my steed turned to the left and began to walk on the land side of the wall and I continued forward on the sea side with the waves now slogging against my ankles.
As I pushed forward the waters began to slowly rise as the hours passed and now the waves were waist high and slamming me against the ancient slim covered wall, yet with every ebb and flow of the tide I pushed forward. The sun high above my head and casting nearly no shadow, I moved forward steadily eastward.
Then I looked to my right and saw a huge towering wave barreling down upon the wall and I braced for its impact expecting to be crushed and my body drug far out to sea by the wicked undertow…
“Lance, Lance” I heard my name being called. “Lance, where in the world are you?” Diane said.
“Oh! I’m sorry.” I said as I looked around and remembered that I was in ‘The One Headlight.’
“Okay, so where were you big boy?” Diane quipped.
“I was then!” I said as I noticed that Maria had joined us.
