This unexpected shift in her consciousness took place when she was having her afternoon swim in the sea - her leg had healed to the point where she could actually do a kind of gentle breast stroke for about thirty minutes without tiring. When she finished, she stood waist-deep in the water, catching her breath, the strong Mediterranean sun beating down on her bronzed body. She dropped one hand into the water, and that was the moment she noticed the change. The water had seemed ice cold to her only three weeks ago, but now she could barely tell when she was in it. It felt lukewarm, and so soft, like the texture of velvet... and almost an extension of her body. When she was in the sea, it was hard to tell where she ended and the water began.
The same was true with the fresh air, which was a
