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Bright daylight beamed through the windows of the clinic, catching the lenses of his glasses, the sudden glint making him blink momentarily, shaking the daydream from his head. But it was warm and soft as glowing embers and heat oozed over his skin. Try as he might to stay focused on his work (he didn’t really try), he slipped right back in.
The breeze washed over his skin, gentle as the curling waves that lapped the edges of the tide pools, salt spray adding a delightful zing to the air. The sand crumbled delicately beneath his feet as the sound of the shifting sea lulled him into a peaceful calm.
Was it the waves? Perhaps it was something else. Something ethereal, more elusive, a whispering presence that cocooned him safely in his moment of quiet reverie.
Dr Harvey Olsen smiled to himself as the daydream smoothed away the edges of reality until he was transported. No trash mixed with ribbons of seagrass or spiked shells of sea urchins, no scuttling crustaceans or shrieking gulls. He even managed to read his book without those feathered bandits attempting to disrupt his serenity.
This was a good dream. It could only get better.
He knew what was coming and resting his chin in his hand, he looked toward the light, closing his eyes until only a version of memory remained.
The way she appeared, emerging from a mirage as he heard her voice, flickering flames of red hair flowing over warm skin. (At least that’s what he imagined).
Her gown cascaded from her hips, soft as a breath stolen by the wind, but luminous as liquid moonlight, shimmering like stardust sprinkled over the glittering ocean.
He remembered her eyes, blue and deep as the sea that rolled beside him and electric as the sky after a storm. Eyes that sparkled with amusement and curiosity, golden lights dancing within their depths. One look and he fell. Like tumbling from the heavens. (Or so he presumed.)
And he fell further than ever before.
Especially as he saw her smile.
Sublime and mysterious, she was unlike anyone else. This he knew for certain.
In daydreams, his words wouldn’t fail him. In his fantasy, he said everything he meant to say. And everything they said shone with possibility, the promise of more to come, the antique language gilding every phrase in something sacred. In his mind, his reflection of their luminous moment became poetry itself. A blessing from the Muses.
Just like the most perfect illusion, the real world drifted away. All that mattered was the sound of her soft voice and the words that fell from her perfect lips. She became light and inspiration, a vision made real. (Just as he remembered.)
The sea air wrapped itself around them slowly, a tender embrace as they spoke, as soft and fine as mist, as lucious as milk and honey.
But as he sank into the warmth of her presence, he could see the threads of his dream lifting on the breeze, sheer as spidersilk and floating from his grasp.
You're sweet, Doctor. I shall see you very soon.
Even in dreams, he couldn't agree. If he was sweet, she was so much more. Sweeter than ambrosia. She was love and beauty and he would never be worthy.
But he would give anything to try.
If she willed it.
A voice, friendly though it pierced his vision, drew him back to reality. He didn’t want to return. He wished he could stay. For her, he would offer eternity.
‘Doctor Harvey… Harvey…?’
He blinked.
Maru was standing beside him with a chart in hand. He tried to focus his thoughts. The room burst into view. He wasn’t at the beach. No soft sand and seaglass. Dream tides slipping away. His enigmatic companion no longer by his side.
Harvey furrowed his brow for a moment.
He’d had no reason to suspect anything, to question an afternoon of reading at the beach. It had all seemed harmless enough until the words of the Sheriff rang at the distant horizon of his memory. A tinkling bell, not a warning but a gentle reminder.
Something about Mary-Lou Nilsen’s grandmother knowing when someone would fall in love.
That didn’t mean…
(And yet, he already knew.)
Mary-Lou had suggested he visit the beach after all.
The words drifted like feathers until they settled, the weight of them pressing on him until the edges of his daydream began to flicker, the vision softening and melting away until he was no longer submerged.
‘Your next appointment will be here soon…’ Maru spoke quietly.
‘It was just a seaside chat… Nothing more…’ He replied.
Maru tilted her head, frowning softly as she tried to make sense of his words. He sighed, a bittersweet smile tugging at his lips as he took the chart.
Oh, how he wished it could be more. (Perhaps dreams can come true.)
He couldn’t know he would see her again. A voice, not unlike hers, whispered through his thoughts. Maybe he would. He allowed himself the tiniest moment to hope before he looked up again, glancing around his office. Reality, responsibility, and expectation stared back. Loneliness crept in, never far away.
He recalled her eyes, her smile, her voice.
An oracle, a dream, a link to the divine.
The most beautiful woman in the world.
He must be losing his mind. But would it be so bad to lose it for her? He would give her everything if she asked. The stranger who took his breath away and captured his dreams.
He chuckled to himself as he gently shook his head.
Amor est vitae essentia.