HMV: I place the headphones my my ears and let the music seep into my skin, my veins, feel the world shrink and disappear as the song carries me someplace else. I get this sense of total and complete peace. As I watch the world go by, it's as if nothing can touch me. People are moving about the aisles, as if in slow motion; a trio of teenage boys exclaim over some record at the heavy metal section, mouths opening and closing, gesturing rapidly, a couple in their fifties are at the classical music section picking out some records and looking thoughtful, a movie buff is at the film area checking out the latest DVDs. I feel distant and detached and far away from everything, impassively taking it all in, watching life play out from a vast distance, all the while in my impenetrable bubble. I think to myself; music offers a temporary escape, a respite from the humdrum and monotony of everyday life. It allows you to attain some semblance of blissful oblivion. For that short lived window of time, the world teeters and begins to fade, becoming hazy and unfocused and then vanishes momentarily as the sounds sweep you away, and you're unresisting, so you can't fight it even if you tried...

until you take the headphones off and you stand blinking a little as the sounds and sights from the outside world rush in and bombard your senses, and the feeling is gone once more