I sat down in a chair by the bed. The house got altogether still again, and I thought she was asleep. Just ever so quietly I reached over and laid my hand on her shoulder.
She said, "I love you too, Farish."
She didn't last long after that. Death had become her friend. They say that people, if they want to, can let themselves slip away when the time comes. I think that is what Farisa Aina did. She was not false or greedy. When the time came to go, she went.
