The pass was narrow but could still accommodate the companions in single file. The attack would come soon.

Basking in the glory of the morning sun, she laid out her clothes and dove into the water towards the figure in the horizon.

'You know what I want? A little piece of paradise in this dull, grey mire of reality,' she sighed wearily.

'People always think "It really isn't that bad here." when they're really getting boiled slowly,' she said in an off-hand manner.

She stepped out the door. 'Where would the next grand adventure be?' she wondered.

She stared off into the horizon. 'Life always changes. I don't know why that fact always catches people off-guard.'

The view was perfect. The sea breeze was sublime. If only the company was befitting of the surroundings.

There would be other days. It was just that today should have been special but it joined the ranks of the ordinary too easily.

'I will be good!' she thought with all the unbridled enthusiasm of one whose path stretched before her to eternity.

Thinking the best of the world, she stepped out into the garden to begin what would be a day of glorious mayhem.