Instant Escapes

 By Linda van Oudheusden

Close your eyes for a second.

Imagine a place where that familiar knot in your stomach stops twisting.

Imagine work is a million miles away.

Imagine the sun is smiling and you have escaped into a blissful nothingness.  You are melting into the smooth rocks at the bottom of a waterfall.  Your feet disappear into tepid water and a gentle breeze touches your hair.  Your arms stretch upwards and the warmth of the sun rests in your hands.

You are swept away into a painting where time becomes a river without banks.  Your soul floats over the rugged mountains.  The canvas changes with each sweeping movement.  You float towards a dramatic dark blue sky.  The air is cool and invigorating.  With each breath you take in the possibilities of a new world.

The wind gently sways you away from the clouds.  You pause a moment on the edge of a mountain to absorb the desolated valleys and wide open spaces.  The images pour into every crevice in your drained heart, filling it until you burst into a brilliant pink and blue sunset.

Like an autumn leaf you gently flutter down towards the hills and softly come to rest on a broad farmhouse stoep, taking in the late afternoon and sweeping endlessness.

It is getting dark now and the silence is peaceful.  The night sky puts on a show of twinkling lights and dancing moons.  It is in this moment that you become whole again.  You are wrapped under the comfort of a beautiful Karoo spell and nothing else matters...