After spending an entire Friday night into Saturday with Annalise in his bed, just like he had for the last four months, Greg was exhausted. The girl wore him out every time. He fell into a twilight state of drowsiness, the kind where he didn’t know for sure at any second if he was asleep or awake. But he could sense she wasn’t with him anymore, because his arms felt empty. Annalise was getting ready to leave, that meant. After four months, Greg had this pattern of hers memorized. Escape after the sex, so her conscience could pretend it never happened.   Read more….. »

Today I sit on a public bus. We are both waiting patiently together as it fills with passengers, brushing by me one by one. I’m glad to be sitting once more. I thought I had a day of freedom today, a day where the chains of illness were gone and I could break free of the confines of my sick room. The pretending I use to forget my pain almost won the battle by killing it for real, for good.   Read more….. »

Take a deep breath. The air is cold and crisp here, standing by the river’s edge. Yesterday, when the spill happened upriver, the air was warm. Breathe in again, while you can. There is change in the wind. Breathe out, and maybe now you have cast a prayer upon the heavens. For everything is different now. A new season will be arriving here, in this place.   Read more….. »