- 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜/𝚠𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚜 -

𝟶𝟶𝟷.

∙ ⸰ ⊱ ❀ ⊰ ⸰ ∙

When a person lacks the ability to grasp a life-altering situation, they reflect deeply in order to understand what they've been through, as if living through the experience twice, thrice, or however many times needed to face reality.

You had to look reality right in its soulless eyes when she looked back up at you through lids sealed shut by the first notes of death.

Even with her life hidden behind a drawn curtain, you sat still in that one-man audience, projecting every scene the two of you had written together on repeat with your own, all-seeing eyes. You could admire her life as though she were still living—going through the days she thought she would have more of.

She was beautiful. A woman filled with so much love that it basically spilled out of her, reaching every soul she could, no matter the distance.

That's why losing a woman like her could kill millions in one single moment. You know that to be true, for she killed you even as she gave you life.

If only you could go back to a time before now, before you lost both her and yourself, but not too far. Not before you found someone you love too dearly to lose as well.

- 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 -

Night was on the verge of replacing day, banishing the light with each passing moment as if it were never meant to exist. In spite of the growing darkness, you tore off your sandals, dropping them below the wooden steps, ready to face the pitch-black waters. The cold sand shifted with every step you took as you started for the shore, pushing against the harsh breeze.

With the moon highlighting every wave and drawing the water nearer, you couldn't help but do the same, like a moth to a flame.

However, the light disappeared suddenly in the center of your vision, as if someone were standing in the beam of a projector, blocking the image from reaching the white tarp.

Curious, you took a step closer, and closer, and closer until you could finally make out the silhouette before you: a man of good stature, carrying a surfboard against his ribs. The sight was overwhelming, to say the least, like simply looking at him would be more than enough to steal the air from your lungs. You couldn't really see him per se, but you could see the outline of his broad shoulders, his biceps, and whatever else your eyes could cling to in that moment. And just as you were ready to dart away from view, he caught sight of you with the help of the pale moon.

The gentle breeze carried his heavy voice like they were one, "You need a flashlight?"

You froze, scared to respond to a total stranger, but you did nonetheless. "No, thanks. I'm not looking for crabs."

He let out a short laugh. "Yeah, okay." His words were quick to mix with the breeze pushing against his back, and his silhouette became more than a stranger, as if the sun had managed to shove the moon out of the sky. "And I'm not high off my ass."