I once met the sun–

Its surface a brilliant hue of burning reds,

oranges,

and yellows that flamed against a silent,

motionless,

sleeping, night sky. Its size so encapsulating I yearned to embrace its surface.

I met the sun, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the constant onslaught of hopes stretching to touch its surface, to be one with the coursing lava.

Words flowed to that same surface,

the person who had whispered these undeniable human truths met the ground of their new home and grabbed the nearest glowing ambition and pulled it close — they danced to a song only they could hear. Its verses shot up through to the sky to light the universe.

I strained to decipher what they had to say, my body moving as fast as it could, striving to fall within one of its rays.

I leapt between a set of words that moved much slower than those around them.

They swept across my skin like a hand grazing the forehead of its sleeping lover.

I opened my eyes.

I could see the world I dreamed of around me — a meadow,

a small lake sitting at its furthest edge,

surrounded by endless trees,

my loved ones lying in grass beds stroking the fur of the sleeping doe beside them.

The world around them brightened.

My eyes began to ache.

I squeezed my eyes closed,

a little girl had burned into my consciousness.

Ethereal music hung in the air and sent an unrelenting warmth through my body as it blew into my skin. I breathed in. My exhale held on to a mystical laugh as it swirled out of my lungs.

The words fell past me, and the house I had always dreamed of straddled itself between the backs of my eyelids. My body sighed — my breath twirled around me. It was impossible for my eyes to consume my surroundings.

I reached down to its surface.

I could not go anywhere else — I did not want to go anywhere else.

The sun felt my lingering gaze and pulled me into an embrace. The words I struggled to hear became clearer as I moved closer and closer. I could understand enough to comprehend what was being said —

The sun and I collided.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a garden,

my body under a tree,

hidden in shade.

The air felt heavy.

I gently stood and looked at the world around me. I deliberately, yet slowly approached the edge of the shade the trees provided.

The air became heavier.

There was no viability beyond the edge. It only glowed. I reached my hand out to feel the sun on my skin. It was at my fingertips when I felt a pulling.

The sun glazed my skin.

She whispered,

“Dance with me.”