His jaw ticked at the sound of my voice, but other than that, he remained rigidly fixed in place, head cocked to one side as if listening intently to the silence. “I heard something.”

Watching him is my only focus. My obsession.

I wanted to shut my legs. Push the baby back in. Give into the exhaustion and close my eyes, just for a moment.

A single tear escaped, dribbling from the corner of her eye and pooling in the knotted hair at her temple. That was her eighth fall down the stairs in as many weeks.

I’ve questioned many times why those in charge bother creating familiar spaces for the guests, when the guests don’t remember who they are…

It had been right there on the tip of my tongue, but now it was gone, tumbling and bleeding away. 

She holds her breath, clenching her stomach muscles in an effort to conjure enough silence to hear what’s happening in the inky world behind her.

She paused under a shaft of sun, its warmth sparkling against her bare arms, the black fabric of her suit jacket hot and heavy in her hands.

Another gust of wind rumbled around her, this time stronger, changing directing and swirling her hair.