In a small house not far from the sea lived a young man. Sometimes in the mornings he would rise early and go to his window, throwing open the heavy shutters that watched over him while he slept. As he stood before the world outside, the sun would paint a thin gold line around the darkened shape of his body and his ruffled hair would be singed by the yellow light of sunrise as it brushed past him into his room. His young skin would prickle as the sun warmed him and he would smile, for it was good to be alive. But on most mornings the sun would rise quietly and peek through the tiny cracks in the closed shutters to spy his lifeless form lost in the limitless bounds of sleep. Upon this, it would continue its methodical journey across the sky without greeting from the young man, leaving him to his nocturnal adventures. One morning though, the young man awoke, inspired. As it sometimes happened, slumber had gifted him a vision. On this day, he knew not what he would find, only that he would find it. He did not go to his window and cast aside the shutters, nor did the sun greet him with a warm 'hello'. He ran from his room and out into the light, breathing in the fresh morning air and warming his face in the sun's brilliance. The gentle lapping of the waves on the beach called him to the water's edge. He was entranced. The sky was a penetrating beautiful blue, the moistened sand glistened in the daylight and the smell of salt in the air lifted him. Then, as if dream and reality merged as one, a young woman appeared at the far end of the beach. She was dressed in white, her long hair played about her shoulders and ran down her back. She was fresh, she was radiant, she seemed to glide along the sand as she moved toward him. He was spellbound. His heart raced as he felt a sense of the familiar rush through him. This was the girl in his dream. She was the one who had brought him here, to the edge of the sea. As time went by, the two became great friends. They would go down to the beach in the morning and romp in the ocean. They would lie on the sand and let the sun dry them - they would run hand in hand and the breeze would sting their faces. As the tide advanced and receded their days flowed, one into the other, in a joyous montage of tender moments. And in the night, they would sleep side by side and the moon would smile on them through the open window. One morning the young man awoke to find the girl had gone. He ran down to the beach expecting to find her gathering starfish or shells on the outgoing tide. But he was not to find her footprints on the empty shore. He returned to his little house, his heart aching with the loss of his beloved. Throwing himself on his bed in a flurry of despair, he came across a note he had missed in his hurry to find his love. It read as follows: "My love, I must go now, but I will return. In those moments between dreaming and waking you will find me. But do not linger there, for I am in the sun and in the stars in the night sky and I am in the shells you will find on the beach. And when you know me in all things, I will return and we will be together forever." That night the man slept alone in his bed but for the company of the waning moon throwing its silvery light through the open window. The following day he rose early, dismantled the shutters on his windows and went down to the beach to be with his love. Wayfarer International, Copyright © John & Melody Anderson, 1997 - 2002. All rights reserved.