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Chapter 18


I was dreaming.

It was one of those dreams that is so very real, yet too perfect to be real. One of those dreams where you do not want to wake up because it is so sweet, so wonderful.

It was just Janice and me. We were walking on a beach in a place I'd never been before, but a place that felt like home. The sound of the water gently washing up onto the sand filled my soul with incredible peace, even in my sleep. It was that sugar-white sand that blazes too bright to look at. It contrasted wonderfully with the deep, green jungle at the edge, and the blue of the sky and the sea. We walked at the point where the water and the sand met, our feet pushing into the sand and making footprints. Looking back at our tracks, I marveled again at her smallness, her steps taking at least two to match one of my strides, her feet so delicate and tiny next to mine.

I looked at her. Each time I looked at her it was like the very first time. Even in my dreams, her incredible beauty and energy and light filled my soul and heart. There was just something about her, something about the way she glowed that resonated with my soul and made me want to sing and laugh and cry - all at the same time. She filled my soul with thoughts of eternity and unspeakable joy. She was truly my soul mate. I was made for her, as she was for me - my eternal companion.

She was wearing a thin dress that fluttered marvelously in the breeze. Each step she took pulled the dress against her shapely legs and body, highlighting her feminine nature while not being too revealing. In truth, she was the most feminine and lovely woman I'd ever known. I couldn't believe she was mine - the woman (quite literally) of my dreams.

She turned to look up at me. It was always the same: her face became suffused with delight and joy as our eyes met. Ah, her eyes. I could gaze into those eyes forever, contemplating the meaning of that word as I looked and saw eternity. Her eyes contained power and glory that defy all description. Just a glance would melt my heart and renew my devotion to this woman who was also me - the part of me that lived outside of my body. We were perfectly complimentary, exactly fitting each other and completing each other. I needed her as she needed me.

She spoke. On hearing the dulcet tones of her sweet voice, I began to weep. She talked of things that were immaterial, things that mattered greatly, things that were in her soul and mind and heart. She shared her innermost self with me, filling my thoughts with delightful images of her and her needs and desires. All I ever wanted to do in all of eternity is work every day to fulfill those needs and desires, to please her and make her happy. It was always the same - each time she spoke my soul became inexorably connected with hers. It was as if angels were singing. And perhaps, in fact, they were.

We found a bit of shade and sat next to each other in the sand. She sat close, resting her head on my shoulder. We looked out at the ocean, content and peaceful, talking of things of general interest but mostly just enjoying the moment. I laid back in the sand, letting the warmth of the day melt into my body. She laid her sweet head on my chest, near my shoulder. I could smell the warm scent of her hair as it wafted up to me, brought by and mingled with the gentle ocean breeze. It was sweet, reminding me of home, of peace, of comforting warmth and security. Her smell was the smell of wide open spaces, of the earth right after a rainstorm, of living, growing things, of open fields filled with sunshine. It was not something you could buy bottled from a department store shelf, but if you could you'd be an instant best seller.

Ah, how I longed to just be there with her forever, lost in the moment and in each other's arms. Just her and me, together, forever. I was so in love with her... I knew I would be forever.

I woke up to the reality of my situation, staring again at the glassy rust-colored walls of my incarceration. At least Janice was with me, but she was just as imprisoned as I was, trapped by her sense of duty and responsibility.

How are we going to get out of this mess?

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