It’s like seeing lights shining on you from a distance.

Mysterious, maybe even frightening.

They’re waving around but you can’t find the source.

Where are they coming from?

Who are they coming from?

Why are they here?

It is dark outside.

You are standing there all alone.

Surrounded by vast waters that almost never end.

Adding to the eerie ambiguity.

The emptiness.

The loneliness.

The fear.

Waves rushing up against coarse sand and rock.

Chasing you.

Trying to grab you by the ankles and pull you in,

though you remain standing so close,

you remain just out of reach.

Your only pride being that you can still tease the water.

Here you still have control.

That decision is yours.

But you see the lights again.

Closer.

You can’t run from the lights.

You can’t make them go away.

It is foggy outside from a mist.

The light echoes out through the sheets of white filling the air.

It travels left and right.

Up and down.

Filtering through everything around you.

The air that you are breathing in.

Faster and faster.

Spreading further and further.

Like all the earth is illuminated, this is all you can see.

You can’t break your mind from it.

Until you feel the water hit your toes.

You didn’t mean to let it make that advance.

You’re startled.

You broke the only control that you had.

Do you look at the water or the light coming towards you?

Back and forth.

Back and forth.

It hits your toes again.

And again.

The waves are pulling in faster now.

With more force.

The lights are coming in closer.

Brighter.

Stronger.

The waves are violent now.

Breaking on your legs.

Splashing up on your torso.

The water is warmer than you’d thought.

Maybe the waves aren’t trying to harm you.

Maybe it’s not violence.

Maybe it’s excitement.

Like a dog pouncing on a new guest.

At first you’re never certain of the intention.

Am I welcome here?

Is this a greeting or a warning?

The waves are welcoming you in.

Faster and stronger.

Excited for their new guest.

So the lights mirror this.

Faster and closer.

Stronger and brighter.

More and more.

But they’re chasing.

You are not welcome here.

You look out at the empty.

The lacking.

The vast.

The dark.

You can’t make out much.

Back and forth.

The lights coming closer,

the waves tugging on your hand.

Closer and closer.

Back and forth.

You feel the water splash harder.

You feel the salt on your face.

You smile.

The air trickles past you.

Its cold and harsh on your wet skin.

Shivering.

The water growing increasingly warmer in contrast.

The lights are so close now.

But why don’t they want you here?

It is not safe.

So you run.

And you dive in.

Head first.

You can hear the water rushing past your body as you swim under.

One long jolt that carries you in far enough that you can’t stand on your own.

You come up for air.

With a long gasp.

Turning yourself to face the land.

The lights aren't there anymore.

They're gone.

The water seems quiet now.

You remember mere seconds ago.

You were standing right there on the sand.

And now you’re here.

Surrounded by the unknown.

And you're not scared anymore.