Caesura

A Story by Shadenfrauder

Some people need more time, and some people just need more time to hide. It's okay to hide.

She loses them every waking day now, and there's nothing that could be done about it. Not her words, not her voice, not even her thoughts.

But heaven had given her one salvation.

Him.

"What was I here for?"

"You were supposed to sleep."

The words are gently spoken, the voice warm and kind. There are no hints of exasperation or impatience, no indication that this had occurred countless of times before.

"Thanks. I'll remember that."

He knows it won't happen, but he'll never tell her that.

"No wonder I feel sleepy."

Laughter. It sings its soft, mellifluous notes, and he basks in its rhythm and rhyme. However much he loves her laughter, though, he loves her smile even more.

Because the memory of her smile lasts longer than her laughter.

"So that means it's evening already, yes? Where did the day go?"

Some questions are not meant to be answered. Not unless he want her to cry once more.

"Swings in the park."

He could still taste the salt in her lips, smell the blood in her hands. She forgot, but he never forgets.

She sits still for a moment, her mind reflecting on the story behind his words. For a moment she feels the sunlight on her cheeks. She hears silence. She hears his voice.

"It was sunny earlier, yes?"

He nods. It was a beautiful day.

He had stood watching her sitting peacefully on the swing, waiting for the sunrise. And the sun rose, its cerise and amber fingertips healing her with its touch, the blueness of the sky reflected in her features and her eyes.

He didn't know where heaven ended and she began.

And it all makes sense to him.

"I need to change into my nightgown, don't you think? I'm going to sleep, after all."

"You changed earlier."

"Oh."

The confusion so apparent in her guileless eyes rips him apart, every single day.

Every single blessed day.

"Then I should sleep."

The greatest agony of all.

He climbs to the bed and stretches beside her. She looks at him in slight confusion, before her expression settles into a tolerant smile.

"Not up to sleeping alone, huh?"

Silently, he wraps his arms around her. She snuggles into him comfortably.

She forgets by day, but she remembers by night.

Her memories assault her in her dreams, and he stays to make certain that she wakes up once more.

As she drifts off to sleep, he hums softly.

He will follow her everywhere, to the ends of the earth if needed. To the pits of hell if required. To the gates of heaven if necessary.

But he cannot follow her where it matters the most - in her dreams.

She hides by day, but the night offers no hiding place.

He embraces her tighter as he feels the tears spilling from her closed eyes.

"Hide in me."

One day she will remember.

For now she hides. Cowardice, perhaps - but sometimes, hiding is the only way to survive.

He will always find her.