Illusions of Lightness
Episode 1

But for a moment he sees another man on the beach. A man in the water, just a few steps off the shore. This man stands facing away from him, towards the evening redness in the West, with only the edge of his face visible. This other man seems familiar, like someone the man had once known, an old friend or acquaintance perhaps. No, somehow the man knows this is wrong.
The man in the water reminds him of himself, he could even be me the man thinks. But the other man seems completely serene, at peace with himself: who is he, and where he is. And just as quickly as the other man appeared, he is gone. The beach is empty again; the waves beat ceaselessly against the sand, unchanged by his absence. He is alone again.

Scanning the shore, the man notices something lying amongst the shoreline tress, glinting in the dying light of the sunset. He approaches and sees that they are a set of glasses, strangely familiar. Picking them up, the man instantly recognizes them as his own. Donning them, they instantly spark a memory of a past life: a memento to the man he was, and why he is no longer that same person. They are a reminder of an obsession which once consumed him, and one for which he paid the ultimate price. And although they fill him with a deep pain, he cannot bear to leave them behind or cast them aside. For better or for worse they are a part of him and who he was and is, and to abandon them would mean killing some small part of himself. Taking the glasses, he knows he will find what he is looking for next amongst the rocks. It is a small silver ring.