A thousand shimmering stars are falling into the sea. Plop. Plop. Plop.

Look at the stars.

A long blast jolts me awake. The low vibration of the foghorn rattles my bones. It comes again a second time, and I feel the echo of it deep in my chest.

I open my eyes and the world turns upside down. Nothing makes sense.

I’m standing in the ocean. The tickling kiss of wispy seaweed against my skin. The burn of salt in my nose.

On my tongue.

Waves sweep over the tops of my knees. And I shiver. Fight against the clawing panic.

Because this isn’t a dream.

And it isn’t something I’m imagining inside my head.

I’m wide awake now, standing mid-calf in the ice-cold surf of Long Island Sound. The fog presses in from all sides. I can’t even tell which way is the shore and which way is open water.

And I have no idea at all how I got here.

ACT II: SCENE 1

My muscles seize and I’m frozen in place. Wave after wave crashes into me, but I’m too afraid to move. My feet and legs are numb from the cold. Finally, I make myself take a shuffling step. But the water gets deeper. It’s up to my thighs now, so I retreat in the opposite direction. One tiny step at a time. Until the waves are just barely washing over the tops of my feet. A few more backward steps and my legs give out. I sink to my knees in the sand.

This is real.

This is real.

This is real.

What the fuck?

What the fuck?

What the fuck?

This is not like what happened at auditions. Or the water in the bathroom. There’s no cold, hard floor to bring me back to reality.

I’m shaking so hard that my bones knock against each other. A choked sob tears its way out of my throat and immediately gets swallowed up by the thick fog and the noise of the waves, like I never made a sound at all. I lift my head to look around, but I might as well close my eyes again, because even with them open I can’t see anything. Not even my own hand in front of my face.

I get to my feet somehow. I’m barefoot. Wearing the tank top and shorts that I sleep in. No phone. No flashlight.

No lighter.

No idea how to get back to my cabin. I’m already disoriented again.

Which way was the sea?

I turn in a slow circle, and I have no idea.