• A vast body of water lay before me. Its sweeping waves barely reach my feet as it pulsates back and forth, almost as if it were a living, breathing creature. I’m hypnotized by the lulling hush of water against sand, and I see nothing except murky blue with veins of white stretching across it. A tan beach stretches behind me and to my sides. I cannot see its end. An ashen mist hides everything beyond my vision.
    I glance to my left…then my right. I am alone. There are no footsteps in the sand, none showing which direction I came from or if anyone had been there before. This is the dream of a distant shore, and I am the only one here to view it.
    As I stand here, my mind begins to work again. My thoughts are having conversations with one another, debating, reminiscing, arguing… It is much louder than it used to be now. My head is jumbled with my thoughts and feelings, neither refusing to back down. Logic and emotion are fighting again.
    “Isn’t the view lovely?”
    I didn’t notice anybody walk up or appear, but suddenly, I am not alone any longer. I slowly turn to see the visitor, and am only slightly taken aback that it is myself. I stare at myself, and I am staring at the ocean. Finally, I look at me. “It makes me so sad that this is only a dream.”
    My heart cringes at my words. I look back at the waves as they reach up, gently claw at my feet, and then retreat back to their home in the water. I wish I could return to this empty place so my emotions and thoughts would be able to converse more often.
    “Isn’t it sad that nobody else will ever see this place? Only we will. Nobody else can experience such peace,” I say. I glance at myself again, a pained look in my eyes. Why was I saying such dejected things? I had been perfectly content before this other me had arrived. I stand there in silence, now, both of me. Finally, I look into the gray sky and ask, “Who are you?”
    The other me suddenly smiles as though I had told a joke.
    “I am Sorrow,” he says. I glance at him and knew instantly why. His face is long and forlorn a distant look is in his misty blue eyes. Even while he is smiling, I can detect sadness behind it. “It is my duty to make you sad.”
    “I see.” I look away from Sorrow and stare quietly out at the ocean. Only seconds later, Sorrow is speaking again.
    “I miss my friends…don’t you?”
    Though I like the ocean, the sentence had again struck me, just as they had the previous two times. I did miss my friends. I wish I could share this beautiful place with them…but alas, I could not. This is the dream of a distant shore.
    Sorrow smiles again and looks at his feet. I know he is sad, but his pride is silently growing. He is trying to make me sad…and it is working.
    Time is not in existence as I stand there with my sorrows. He continuously brings up something that makes me feel badly on the inside, and I grow to not like it at all. Not even my other emotions could compete with Sorrow. Anger, Happiness, Fear, Embarrassment…none of them could seem to pull Sorrow back into my own head, my own heart. He seems to be here to stay. If he does, I will be constantly sad, which is something nobody desires, especially my other emotions.
    While Sorrow is speaking once again, I take a step forward and begin to wade into the water. Though my eyes are not on him, I know he is watching me.
    “What are you doing?” he asks me finally.
    “The water feels so nice,” I respond simply, not bothering to turn around. I stroke my arms back and forth, letting the waves carry their weight. Not a moment later do I hear Sorrow approaching from behind me. “Doesn’t it?”
    “Of course…but this will be the only time we will ever encounter it. Doesn’t that make you sad?” Sorrow says. This is the last straw.
    I turn around and face him completely, my face empty of emotion. Inside, however, all the rest of my feelings were binding together. All of us wanted to put Sorrow back in his place.
    “It isn’t time,” I say. Sorrow looks at me, slightly confused. I expect this. “It isn’t time to be sad.”
    “It is always time to be sad,” replies Sorrow. He is smiling again. I shake my head at him, then reach out and take his arm. He does not fight back, nor does he question me. Using all my emotional strength, I force Sorrow into the gray-blue waters. I can see him below me, eyes filled with pain and grief, small bubbles exiting his lips as the air slowly leaves him. Guilt suddenly rushes through my other emotions, as does Horror. But I grind my teeth and keep them at bay as I watch my Sorrows drown.
    He is struggling beneath me now, but still does not resist me. Guilt is clutching so hard to my heart that I find it hard to breathe myself, but I still haven’t let go. Sorrow is suffering slowly, terribly, and he is watching me. This will not rid me of him––he will be back. But for the time, I wanted so badly to be…happy.
    Finally, Sorrow is still. As quickly as he had come, he was gone. Almost immediately, I stumble for the shore, Guilt and Horror screaming inside my head. I feel tears weld in my eyes, biting my lip to hold them back. Suddenly, something else comes and calms them down.
    Joy.
    Now he is standing next to me, a large smile on his face, watching the waters like I.
    “Isn’t the view lovely?” he asks. My emotions fall silent. I, too, smile, and say, “Yes…yes it is.”