The sound of water.
Its gentle voice lulls me and lures me towards it.
Just one step. One simple movement forwards.
Then another, and another, and another.
Each time my bare foot sinks into the warm, soft sand,
I get closer to my destination.
Faster and faster, until I'm running towards it.
Then, suddenly, I'm standing ankle deep in cool water
with a cushion of red-brown sand underneath my toes.

The ocean spray gently tickles my taste buds.
How delightful it feels to have those salty droplets of water resting on my tongue.
The smell of fresh air caresses me.
A scent just like the morning dew that lies on the delicate thin blades of green grass
swirls around me with the gentle breeze.
This is truly paradise.

I raise my eyes in time to see a tiny bird flutter by,
in and out of my sight.
Her wings pure white
and her movements so quick and delicate
that she is like a glimmering star in the daytime sky.
I could have sworn I heard her sing with the low hum of the blue-green water.
A voice so captivating –
and as soft and gentle as the twinkling sound of wind chimes in a breeze.
The duet mesmerizes me.

I look around me, searching for the beautiful creature.
Has she flown away?
I don't think I'll ever forget those twinkling wings.
I cannot see her; all that is there is the aquamarine water,
shimmering in the afternoon sun.
She's gone; disappeared into the clear, blue sky.

Squinting.
Is it her? Is it the bird?
A dot. A tiny speck of black against the vast blue.
It gets bigger. Closer. And blacker.
I feel a slight tinge of disappointment as the darkness of the circle envelops me,
surrounds me,
and, I'm falling.
Falling into nothingness.
Falling into reality.
Falling into a vortex that is your eyes.