only silence remained, holding my breath in the dark; gasping for air with the lungs of a lark
Her heart is racing so fast that she feels nearly dizzy with it—lightheaded with the moment. How had she got here? Was she supposed to be back home by now? She can’t remember anymore. She can’t remember anything but the sound of his voice, the spice of him, that intoxicating warmth when he stood so near. Her brain grows fuzzy on the edges, her memories nearly darkening and deepening as if underwater.
And when his lips touch her cheek, she gasps—just a quick inhale, sharp.
Without meaning to, she shifts, her heart pounding out of her chest as she explodes and emerges as a tiny, brilliantly blue butterfly. Shocked and embarrassed she trembles in the air before him before she alights, fluttering into a nearby tree where she lands on a crooked limb. She lands lightly and feels her entire body, as small as it is, shiver with the emotions that had flooded through her at that simple touch.
Had he known how much it had meant to her?
Shame burns through her at the display, at the lack of control, at the obvious feelings. She closes her eyes and refuses to budge, afraid to look at him and see displeasure, to see confusion, to see pity—or, worse, to see the kind of rejection that she knew would be waiting for her. Because of course it had been the friendly kiss of an acquaintance. It had been nothing to him. Nothing at all. Of course it had.
Oh, but to her, it had been everything.
She should leave, she knows, before she has to look at him and see what must surely be waiting for her. To feel so vulnerable and naked before him would be unbearable and she can’t bring herself to come back down. So instead she waits, wishing that she could answer him and tell him that, even now, she is glad to be there. She would not trade this moment—as painful as it is—for anything else in the world.
@[Molech]