LOVE IN DUNGEON

st

till on the motel ledger and her favorite stool at th

fe unfolding here, letting herself belong, l

when fear clawed at the back of his throa

ee, with silence, with an extra jacket draped ove

still a li

little

and scared together now. And

red into some

old pickup, the one that rattled l

and nearly took out a mailbo

ting back a smile, and said, "W

in the sand with a stick, drawing pi

ockets, memorizing the way her hair danced in the breeze

rebuilt in gr

back together wi

open on the porch steps,

r his last piece of

r his hand with

not pull

r in Nancy's kitchen, elbows

huffed, brushing a stray curl out o

s crossed, smiling softly. "You kn

stubbornly, setting her jaw.

reaching around her

e you're convincing it to trust you

that filled the tiny

els a lot

at her then,

g better at

mething vulnerable f

whispered. "

er. It was lopsided and a

s per

ere the

uite outrun-dreams of glass walls and locked doors,

, crying softly behind

ocked

side of her door and just sat there, back ag

dem

uest

pre

e after midnight, eyes puffy, she found

beside him w

eye and offe

took

ove didn't n

just showing up an

as they sat on the beach with

u so patien

d, tossing a cr

should have been,

nst the sudden s

er then, voice

not the only one l

deepened,

old bait shop-a riot of color and hope

hands rough and careful, smoothing e

weatshirts sometimes, sle

ve him tucked in his wallet, ri

lives threaded togethe

ackson's truck, watching a meteor sh

is shoulder, feeling the

something?"

e said, witho

d again... if I ever

heart pounding

e who I am. Who

ad until his forehead

," he whispered. "You're who

e words sink deep, anchoring he

until the last m

hed themselves into s

em into itself like a sec

ckson were

omple

not

y were

ach other, day by me

time in a long tim

than

every