• The fire of a dying sun blazed in the sky. Brilliant reds and pinks mingled with hues of orange, casting shadows of deepest blue on the clouds that littered the atmosphere. I looked out and wondered what it would be like to dive into the heavens, to swim with flames and sleep on air, looking down on the ocean from so far away.

    He told me he loved me. I took one look in his sincere eyes and wanted to run. I wanted to fling myself to the breeze, to be carried away over the sea to places unknown.

    But cowardice held me, and courage fled. He watched with those eyes that reflected purest affection and a heart I could not bear to break. And on this beach I spoke the words that would bind me, chain me to this ocean shore, staring always over the waves that loved to sparkle in the moonlight - beautiful in their own way, but never a match for the stars they reflected.

    “I love you too,” I told him under the fire of a dying sun.