The waves are rolling in from the still distance, white gray and then shallow and fast until they finally bounce back in a V-shape and slide back into the sea. There's a breeze blowing through the trees and through my hair, and the sand is orange and glowing, like bright clay. The birds are circling and screaming as always, floating on the wind and diving into the shallows from time to time. Before me is the start of the trail down to the sea, gripping the steep dune. The sand is warm between my toes. There is rough, reedy, gray grass growing in the clearing that must have chafed my feet and ankles on the way up here last night, because they're raw and stinging. I can't remember how I got here.