A cool feeling on my face disturbs me from slumber, gently but persistently.

What is that? Rain?

I open my eyes. I see nothing but deep gray, wherever I turn.

I rub my eyes, my heart beating a little faster.

Still the same.

I stand up.

Yes, I can definitely feel a light rain, and the scent of the now damp ground fills my nostrils.

Where am I?

I try to recall what happened before I went to sleep, but my mind feels cloudy somehow.

I slowly and carefully walk to my right… the ground is cool beneath my bare feet.

And as I walk, the deep gray darkens.

Unsettled now, I turn away from the deepening shade and walk in the other direction, so hyper-aware that my ears feel like caverns of eternity.

As I walk in this new direction, gradually the gray turns lighter in tone…

Perhaps, if I keep going, I’ll be able to see where I am?

But no.

I feel defeated as the gray turns to opaque white instead of light!

I shake my head, feeling oppressed, stifled, as panic now starts to rise.

Solid black-white-grayness fills my eyes, my head, even begins to invade my heart.

I begin to feel threatened, angry.

NO! I cry out, with a deep sense of determination that brings me back to WHO I am, and not WHAT or WHERE I am.

With a sudden shift, I feel my inner self expand and, as the panic clears away and transforms into a pocket of calm, I see a single red beam appear before me.

…And it’s transparent! Clear!

Ahhhh… the ability to see distance and form again is like a breath of fresh air filling my deprived, hungry and eager lungs!

And then, spreading across and over me, more coloured, arcing beams appear; orange, then yellow, green, then blue, indigo, then violet…

And through all its glorious kaleidoscopic spectrum I can see the jewel-bright blue sky, I can feel the soft breeze and, as the gentle and beautiful rain still falls on my skin, I rejoice in the freedom from the oppressive clouds that had kept me prisoner for a while.

I laugh out loud in relief and joy as the colours blend and dance within me.

I am home.

Living in the rainbow.

The full spectrum.

The full me.