Waves splashed mildly across the shore, playing and tossing the pale sand. The smell of lilac perfume drifted from her clothes, and the warm steam from a cup of jasmine tea floated up and away. Behind, she heard the quiet roar of traffic as she dipped her feet gently into the cool water. Looking up, marveling, at a blue sky quivering with clouds, she wondered: 'Could this all be a dream?'