Mark stared at me, the color faded from his face.

“Iris, how did you do that?” His voice shook, laced with hesitation. I wasn’t sure he even wanted to know, but his gears were turning and he wouldn’t be able to leave without an answer.

I rubbed my palms on my jeans that were wet from the rain, the rain that fell from the center of my ceiling. Staring down, I focused on the turned over candle, ...

It wasn’t something I wanted to do and I hoped she understood that. When she came home tonight and found my room vacant, she had to understand.

Grasping my bedroom door, I hesitated, like I did every time I tried to do this before. My heart clung to the good moments.

Coming home from school to a warm dinner. Watching her, smile bright, in the stands at my hockey games. She didn’t make it to man...

Everything that came before her is shrouded in darkness, a distant memory. Someone else’s life perhaps.

Now, with her, my vision has cleared, intensified. It is in her embrace, her eyes, her heart, that I can feel the guiding light. A together between our souls. One that shall not break, twist, or fray. Forever....