A path over the dunes at first light, with birds crossing.

The path is the plain kind — sand worn down between two dunes, sea oats standing along both edges, a slatted fence leaning in on the right — and it points straight out toward the water. The sky above it does all the work: dark purple cloud with its undersides lit hard pink, and a gold band showing at the horizon. A loose skein of birds crosses the frame from left to right, spread out and well up.

Pink and violet over pale sand. It works in a hallway, where you walk toward it.