The ocean stretched before him, a vast mirror reflecting a sky he could never quite touch. He stood alone, still as the tide, etched against the fading warmth of the sun. Behind him, footsteps once walked beside his own…now softened by time and silence.
One by one, stars emerged from the deepening blue, quiet and distant, their light reaching him long after it had left its source.
Then, a comet cut across the heavens, bright and breathless. A sudden closeness, a moment that almost was. He watched as it faded, leaving nothing but the ache of brilliance gone too soon.