Lying face down on a beach, unable to move while the tide started to rise around me. "Definitely not the way I wanted to go," I thought, "and definitely not the way I will either." My muscles protested at my attempt to move them, begging me just to give up and accept my fate. Another wave washed past me, finding my mouth as it continued its journey up the beach, sending me into a fit of coughing and sputtering, trying to get the unpleasant taste of salt out of my mouth. Fighting the pain, I grasped at the wet sand in front of me, trying to pull myself forwards. I needed to move faster, the roaring sound of the water hitting the beach was becoming louder and more frequent. Slowly, one hand after another, I pulled myself along the endless beach, which was starting to feel more like a desert. On and on I pulled myself, the wet sand quickly became dry, falling through my grasp. The roaring sounds of the waves gradual started to die, replace with the eerie whistle of the wind. Hours seemed to pass, and all I could see was sand. “That's it,” I thought to myself, “I must be dead, the sand never ends. I died when the ship sunk, and now I'm facing judgment.” As soon as I came to this conclusion, I felt the sun's unforgiving heat leave my back.

Struggling to rise, I looked up and saw that it was a shadow of a man towering over me, blocking the sun. “ Smart kid, it usually takes them longer to figure it out.” His voice was gruff, like one of an old sailor who hated the world but at the same time respected its ways. But at the same time it a certain comfort to it. “Well get up boy, you can't just lay there all day.” None of this registered, “I was dead, how can anyone be here?” “I said get up, the rules here are different and I don’t have the time to explain every little one to you. Right now just imagine that nothing is wrong, forget the shipwreck, forget the pain, right now you are perfectly healthy. Think back to the beach, you had no doubt in your mind that you were dead, but somehow you felt pain. The reason behind this is that in this desert, the pain you feel is created by your mind. You were in pain because it is how you would think surviving a shipwreck would feel like.” He was right, slowly the aches and pains started to drain from my body and my energy started to slowly return.

I started move my fingers, working the feeling back into my limbs. Finally, I was able to pull myself up, just barely enough to get a good look at the man that stood before me. He was Middle Eastern, but I found certain things strange. I had been aboard many ships that had stopped in that part of the world, but the way he spoke seemed off. The way he spoke reminded me of an old English sailor, without looking at him you could never tell guess he was Middle Eastern. The next thing that seemed off was his age, his hair and beard were greying, almost white. Yet he showed no signs of being frail, but instead looked as fit as a sailor or soldier.

“Who are you? What is this place?” The man sighed, “My name is John , I am your guide, and this is going to be a very long and unpleasant journey for the both of us if you keep on asking pointless questions.” He said with irritation. Slowly, I dragged my feet underneath me, pushing myself up. This simple act seemed to drain away all of my energy. Forcing me to muster all of the little strength I had left to complete this simple task. Gasping I asked, “what are we doing out here, are we stuck here?” “If we are then I would have never been assigned this job.” While speaking John slipped out a silver pocket watch out of his pocket, a wave of seriousness washed over his face as he flipped open the cover. “Enough questions, because of you now we are going to be late, follow me.” Astonished by this drastic change in mood I asked “Late for what?” “All you need to know right now is that you have to follow me.” He said with a hostile tone.