Mermaid Quay

 I stand in a place that has always been a dream, never real. Bloodless before its reality set in, a fabled land of sea and sun that I would never get to see before the clock runs out.  The outlying mass of crafted green and stone, surrounded by choppy dark blue waves that cradle and slowly destroy over time my new found land, stand in front of me like a shield, a promise fulfilled. 

Yet where can I go after this, what dream will replace the one that I have left behind? As I walk down the stone streets, gazing back at the sea, will I be replaced by some new version of myself, stronger, more in tune with the world now that I have tasted the reality of dreams? Or will I become harder, bitter, mourning the loss of what sustained me thru hardships untold and dangers unnumbered to at last become one with grief and give in to time?

I turn back and walk to the end of the quay, to the end of my world and stare into the depths of blue blackness. I look deep, my tears dropping into the water, white moving shapes in the foam, dancing and circling my doom. I gaze at the sky and at last I am content to let the world pass by as I fade and let my new self be born. Who am I? The question must never be answered, must remain as fathomless as the sea, for when we answer, we die and a new one takes our place. I sit and gaze, feel the sun, smell the air and let all happiness and pain come as they must as I smile and grieve for the dream that came true.