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After an indeterminable amount of time, I awoke to feel the heat of the sun on my face, and sand underneath me. I opened my eyes to discover that the boat was nowhere to be found. I appeared to be on a beach, near a sea of crystal-clear water, gently lapping against the shore.

I stood up to brush sand off of my clothes, only to realize that none of the sand had stuck to me. I saw that none was sticking to my shoes either, even on the soles. Perplexed by this strange phenomenon, I turned toward the water and began to walk toward the water, comforted that the sand had the same shifting, crunching feeling as I walked on it that I was used to experiencing from sand.

After a moment, I discovered that though I continued to walk forward, I could never reach the water. I could almost reach it, but it was always at least a few inches away. Even when I crouched down next to it and reached out with my hand, it was always just a few inches out of reach. I could tell that the water wasn't moving based on where it met the sand, and I wasn't moving either. It was as though more space was being inserted and removed in the distance between the water and me in order to prevent me from reaching it.

I turned and looked up the beach to my left and right to get an idea of where I was currently located. The sand extended in both directions into the foreseeable distance. When I looked behind me, there was only what appeared to be a gray wall, stretching infinitely upward, which didn't appear to reflect any light. Looking at the sky, I saw the sun, blue sky, and a few clouds, which seemed remarkably normal. The sky reminded me of the sky I had known before this journey started.

I decided to walk up the beach, keeping the sea to my left, hoping that I would find signs of life. After what felt like ten minutes, I saw a small dark shape in the distance. I became curious and excited, and began to hurry toward the shape.