I was seventeen and on vacation in Hawaii with my Step-Father's family and of course my own mother and two younger sisters...We stayed in $1,500/night room in which I hardly spent a moment...one evening I went for a long walk along the beach and came to the base of a forested hill with a small trail going up...although the sun's light was being extinguished by the depthless ocean...my curiosity was piqued and I followed the small trail up the hill...by the time I reached the top it was night......and when I came through the edge of the trees I stopped breathing for a moment...or an eternity....Before me was a beautiful meadow of tall brown grass rippling in the wind...I was on a cliff just above the ocean....facing the endless horizon.....the waves of the sea crashed against the rocks and rippled like the tall brown grass around me...the wind whispering in my ears....blowing through my hair...the leaves in the trees surrounding me articulating every breath of the wind...I closed my eyes for a moment just listening....I tilted my head back and opened my eyes to look at the stars....there was no moon in the sky...only a dark void of wonder..filled with celestial lights...."Nothing could be more perfect than this moment" I thought......except for one thing....."Someone to share it with..." the words fell from my lips filled with a terrible realization that I was alone and in Paradise.

Ty