The Circle has a gutter cap tight in the middle of it, and beyond that a ladder that descends to the ground. Around the first steps of the ladder the couple have placed a mattress, a steel box filled with odds and ends, and a broken wooden crate that could be considered their cupboard. In the shadowy corner is a small metal box that is Nina’s alone and Kaz stays well away from it.
An arrow sliced through the air and hit the wooden bird in the eye, knocking it off its perch.
They all turned to the source. Dronacharya’s heart stilled when he glimpsed the warrior fluttering pink robes striding towards them.
A stunningly young woman, her skin the colour of tree bark, drew the eyes of every one of the prince.
Grocery stores wiped clean, eyes glued to screens, ears drinking up any pieces of information given. Workplaces scheduled a closing down day when the time came. The hotel I worked at put together a ‘last lunch’ for the guests and the staff. Not a dry eye was seen in the room.
The flame dances in front of that last photo, distorting his smile. The corner catches and burns. The curling blackness consumes me first, eating at my unhappy face until I don’t have to look at it anymore. My shoulders relax.
But it keeps going. It takes my brother, too, and our out-of-focus parents hovering in the background. It goes and goes until there’s nothing left to hold.