Chapter 1: The Thrilling Conclusion

I sat cross-legged at my favorite spot on the beach. It was exactly halfway between the water and the boardwalk, where the sand was softest and had the perfect level of dampness. The sun was about to disappear into the ocean in a minute, and the sky had became a dazzling gradient from deep blue to bright purple. Birds squawked above me, as the wind whispered into my ears. There was absolutely no human noise; not a person for miles. I dug my right hand into the sand then pulled it out and watched the grains fly away softly into the distance. I closed my eyes and took it all in.

I couldn't have asked for a better climactic scene than this. I admit this is one of the more peculiar things about me (though I'll leave that up to you to decide), for having grown up on a healthy dose of film, I now see any moment in my life - no matter how serious - as a scene from a movie. I am the star; God is the director. Between my natural ability for drama and his divine artistic vision, I find that we make a winning team. Of course I sometimes help out, like how I just drove a few hours to the North Coast to make this scene a reality...

Gradually a foreign noise invaded my ears, what sounded like panting was slowly increasing. I turned to find a stray brown dog had crept up behind me from out of nowhere. I knew it was stray, because it had the kind of about-to-die physique and look of ultimate misery in its eyes that only a stray dog in Egypt can have. It approached until it was standing right next to me, panting and drooling. For a few seconds it was just me and this stray dog, staring at each other in the middle of an empty beach during a beautiful sunset. I smiled and pet his head gently. He nodded in appreciation, then turned

halfway around, lifted his leg, and before you could say "dog bladder," a steady stream of urine was coming down on my right shoulder. Usually people have an inbuilt reflex system that goes into action whenever another creature is about to pee on them...but on that day mine seemed to be defunct. He put his leg back down, glared at me, and trotted off, his tail wagging joyously.

This...was not part of the script...but it didn't matter anyway. Nothing mattered.

It's time.

I paused for another moment, then got up on my feet, and strolled to the edge of the shore.

I took a deep breath...and marched into the sea.