At the edge of the merrymaking, a slender figure stepped off the wooden boardwalk and into the cool sand, slowly making her way toward the group around the bonfire. She moved carefully, eyes wide as she took everything in - the music, the people dancing, the distant breaking waves on the beach...

[i]"It's so real"[/i], Jillian thought to herself, stopping to gaze in awe at everything, as if in a dream. The sand felt cool and wonderful on her bare feet. How long had it been since she’d gone to the beach? Certainly not since she’d been diagnosed. But all of that felt incredibly far away at the moment. She felt healthily and alive for the first time in years. 

Just then, a couple dashed by her, laughing and teasing each other. One them turned and smiled at her, then jerked his head toward the bonfire as if to say, "come and join us." With a half smile, Jillian followed them into the group of people talking and drinking by the fire. Someone offered her a beer, but she shook her head and smiled. “I still want to take everything in,” she explained, leaning close to so her voice would carry over Bowie’s. “It’s my first night here.” After a while, she wove through the throng of people dancing, letting her own movements get carried away with the music. One song ended, and then another, and pretty soon she had left the dancers and began wondering closer to the water until she stood with her feet in the cool surf. Even here the sea looked endless.