Gentle, blushing white petals fall from a blossoming tree.
A trick of the light.
Shadows flash like a light switch flicked on and off, and the low hum of a bumble bee
rumbles.
Of hundreds of bumble bees.
Or thunder. Tires on the road above. Electricity that whirs through the power lines. The Washing machine, the air conditioning, static on the radio.
He rubs at his ears, shakes his head, blinks against the flickering sunlight and strains against blurry vision and fuzzy, sleep- addled thoughts.
Then
There she is.
With petals in her hair.
Suddenly she’s moving, walking. Away. Watch as the blossoms fall from her ebony
Strands as the figure fades. The sunlight blinds him again, and she’s gone.
Knuckles against aching eyes.
There.
She turns her head slightly.
Watch as her lips part in a soft smile, a sad smile, watch her open her mouth. The
humming drowns her out.
He shakes his head again,
she’s gone.
He knocks a palm against his temple and blinks hard. There she is.
Running.
Wait!
The air cuts through his throat, scrapes up against his teeth and vanishes before it ever
Passes his lips. Another scream, this time in frustration, rattles around in his skull and trickles back into his heart before it can pierce the air around him.
He reaches out, stumbles forward on limbs passing through air like a fly through honey.
He falls into the same spot, feet filling his own footprints crushed into the grass. The light keeps flickering. The buzz doesn’t cease.
Stop!
Then.
There she is.
Her eyebrows are furrowed, a frown mars her lips. Her eyes are soft and anguished. There is a slight shake of her head.
Then.
She’s gone.
He stumbles again, lands on his hands and knees in the grass. Feels the dew seep inti his jeans, the blades of grass press into his palms.
He whips his head around, a nerve pinching in his neck, pain radiating down his spine.
Is she there?
Where did you go?
Are you gone?
