Her hazel green eyes glazed over as she watched the television in the trance all too common of children her age. Little brown hands dove in and out of the popcorn bowl, shoveling its contents eagerly into her mouth. She giggled now and then, losing herself in the movie. She frowned, wiping at her nose as an unfamiliar smell wafted into her room. Aria reached for the remote and paused her movie. The man on the screen stood frozen with his gun pointed at his off-screen adversary.
"Fifi! What're you doing?" She waited impatiently for her grandmother's response. Aria hopped up from her position on the floor and she walked out into the hall. She
The soft drops of rain trickled down her cheeks. Her red hair gradually grew darker, more brown in the wetness of the storm. Freckles of brown mixed with freckles of water droplets as she held her head skyward, nostrils flaring in and out. The smell of rain was soothing, the almighty sign of life was reassuring after her days of death and darkness. And most of all, silence. She had always taken the gentle sounds of rain for granted. She had never listened. She had never listened to the soft patter of rainwater landing on the green pines. She had never once stopped to listen to the way the wind pushed the water against her ears. And now, when
nerves like molten rods,
bending breaking under your weight
I've a proud facade
one they'll never know
dancing chest to chest
peppered candy on your breath
I sigh
sleeping but awake
you trace circles on my hips
the nerves rot away
Falling, falling on his face
legs shaking like
roses in the wind
time and time again
eyes up, eyes down
he says hello
Last and least
her eyes meet his
rogue ambition
to make this introduction
his final good-bye