Gone. No.

1

Trapped. No escape. Running. Caught. Not again. Nonononono. Please no. She’s out there. She needs me. Calling my name. . . 2

"Jonythyn! Please pay attention." 3

I refocused on the face in front of me. Spectacled eyes. Metal hair. Potato sack skin. Chalkboard voice. Voices. Noises. Screeching. Tires. No. A trick. She’s still alive. I saw her. Away. I pushed the voices away. 4

"Now. What’s the last thing you remember?" 5

Grinding mechanics echoing. Extracting the silence. "Lights," Blinding lights. Hiding her. I saw her. She was walking away. Leaving me. She’d never even seen me. But I saw her. She needed me. But she didn’t know it. 6

"Is that all?" 7

Continue. Go on. Can’t. Don’t want to. Have to. For her. So tired. Just stop. Her "Eyes." Opaque crystals of delight. Reading my soul. Closing. Running. Red. Red on gold. Summer hair and star-shine eyes. So many eyes. Watching. Waiting. Studying. Mocking. Laughing. Crying. Gone. No. Not gone. Nonono. There. Yes. 8

"Eyes?" 9

"Yes." I shivered. 10

"Are you cold? I can close the window." 11

No. Breeze. Taunts and teases. I smell ashes. Burned. Burned flesh. Singing the senses. Overwhelming jaded lilies and earthly roots. Slithering through the ground. Through flesh. Decaying. Losing grip. Can’t let go. Sinking. Into the ground. Returning. Ashes to ashes. Dust to dust. Scattered. Lost. Follow. Lights. Blinding lights. Screeching. Tires. Flesh burned. Red flowing. Over that hair and those eyes. Gone. No. Returning. No. Roots. Gone. No. 12

"No!" 13

"Very well." 14

It was a trick. I saw her. I heard her. Laughing. Like glass. Shattering. Tinkling. On pavement. Beside blood and tears. Salt. Always tasted like salt. The sea. Love the sea. Swimming and Gardening. Strong. Leathery hands. Hardened. From the gardening. I loved her. So much. She was leaving me. I couldn’t let her go. Gone. No! Not gone! I saw her. She needs me. . . 15