Time-out

Last week I was sitting in my room, refusing to spend more time in the low temperatures on the city streets than absolutely necessary. I was snowed under with work; busy studying for exams. One day, I found myself staring at one of my wallpapers that looks very similar to this picture:

My thoughts started to drift away – to a relaxing vacation I spent in Italy a few years ago…  

I’m lying on a towel on a small, peaceful beach. Unlike overcrowded Italian tourist hotspots like Lignano and Bibione, only a few towels and sun loungers are scattered across the beach. I’m absolutely relaxed, reading a gripping book. My toes are moving in the warm, golden sand and I smell the scent of the pine trees that surround the remote beach. Feeling the sun warming my back, hearing the soothing sound of the waves brushing up on the beach, I close my eyes and slowly drift off to sleep…
When I wake up, the distant cawing of seagulls has been replaced by the chirping of crickets. I open my eyes, sit up and see the sun approaching the horizon. The beach, the pine forest and the sky are bathed in a warm orange and yellow light. I’m gazing at the dark blue and partly black sea that is contrasting sharply with the orange sky and somehow has a relaxing, calming effect on me. I can’t help but stay motionless, drinking in the atmosphere.  As the sun disappears, it becomes chillier and I realize I should probably get going…

My thoughts snap back to reality and reluctantly I turn my eyes away from the picture and continue studying, full of new energy ;)