Her mouth turned upward at the corners, and she paused as if waiting for me to say something. I said nothing. Her eyes moved off of my face. She cleared her throat and turned away. I watched as she closed the door. The lights blazed brightly, but as the door snapped shut, I felt a thing stir inside me. A slight shiver slithered down my back, a slight tingle on my cheeks and shoulders and upper arms. I felt suffocated and abandoned, abandoned somewhere in the darkness.
His hair was wet. And he was standing underneath a Japanese maple. The dull crimson of the maple leaves brought the gold of his hair to life. A tremor started on the corners of my mouth, my whole body began shivering, and I laughed. It was a painful, ugly laugh. Cold rain poured on my bent body, and a warm rain streamed from my eyes. My silent world ceased to be silent. He stood watching over me as I screamed and screamed and screamed.