I dip my toes in the tide
adjacent to the edge of my all-consuming paracosm.
The water is cold
alluring
unsteady
absolute.

Within it lies the demise
of one thousand dreams
999 unfulfilled wishes
And just over 13 ‘what if’s.

Right outside my humble fantasy
I spy a silhouette,
my potential self.

Warily I take a closer peek.
The girlish apparition reveals nothing
She seems to hold her breath while I lean farther in
And at long last, deserting all juvenile fancies,
reality greets me as I timidly wade
Into the waves.