Chasing Illusions

The searing sunbeams felt like lasers, relentlessly scorching my head, my neck, my ears, my hands. The sand beneath my feet was a ravenous monster, sucking my worn boots down with every step. My eyes burned and my throat ached for water. 

I struggled to retain the last shred of coherence left in my mind as I stumbled forward. Keep going, keep going, I told myself. Water, water! every inch of my body screamed. 

I considered giving up. I imagined lying down to rest on the dune beneath me, where I would close my eyes and everything would disappear. I would be free. 

As the waves of blistering heat blurred my vision, I fell to my knees. I was about to lie down, never to rise again, when I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. Blinking rapidly, I struggled to stand. I squinted into the distance, and gasped, for peering over the horizon was the silhouette of a single palm tree. 

I would have yelled for joy, had my throat not been completely parched. With renewed energy, I bounded across the sandy slopes until I was close enough to confirm that I had indeed been blessed with fortune beyond my wildest dreams. 

An oasis rose before me, surrounded by sky-scraping trees with emerald-green fronds. Shaded by the swaying palms were clumps of lush bushes covered in berries that shone like gemstones. 

I wandered through the magical grove, too ecstatic and exhausted to wonder if I was dreaming. Parting the leaves of two sweeping ferns, I emerged into the center of the oasis. Before me lay a sparkling, crystal-clear pool lined with patches of soft grass and tiny purple flowers. A miniature waterfall trickled into the pool, sending splashes of rainbow mist into the air.

Laughing with pure happiness and relief, I started running across the sand. I leaped into the water with a splash and an explosion of fantastical mirages swirled around me. I had long since parted with reality, but sometimes dreams and illusions are so, so much more beautiful  than real life.