happily until one’s death
We could disappear now...
It had been pouring when they stepped out into the darkness. The
rain was cold as it trickled down his forehead and the nape of his
neck. Like a child, Will slid to the edge of his seat and pressed his
face close to the chilled glass; his warm breath spilled over the
surface and for a moment, everything outside was obscured in fog.
The house at Wolf Trap was like a darkened lighthouse surrounded
by a still and desolate sea of shadows and he turned 'round in his
seat to watch as the darkness swallowed it up.
The dog food had clattered against the dog bowls like rain on the
roof top. Winston and Buster and the rest had pounced onto the meal,
burying their snouts into their bowls and wagging their tails. Their
contentment and seeming lack of care was something that Will often
envied. He crouched among them, touseling their fur and scratching
their ears and offering each a small kiss before rising to his feet.
Winston had been the only one to follow him from the room into the
hall, and when Will bid him to stay, he sat just inside of the door and
whined a soft goodbye.
He had scribbled his note in his casual hand on the back of a receipt-
it was the first paper he had found on the counter. The note was brief
and was little more than an apology and a request that the dogs be
given good homes. At the last moment, he added a line that told her
not to look for him and for a moment he lingered hunched over the
crinkled paper and the pen. There were many things he would have
liked to say, but in the end, they had not been meant to be and it was
better to keep such childish thoughts locked away in a deeper part
of his mind- in the place where childhood dreams and fantasies were
kept safe.
The ride in the taxi had been quiet and while the vehicle quietly
rumbled over the dark, rain slick road, he had felt as if something were
cutting deep into his core. All that he had been was spilling through
his fingers and pooling at his feet and no matter how he tried, he could
not stop himself from emptying. His head was spinning and his heart
was pounding. The pain was an almost physical thing, stalking him into
the airport; he felt a strong and primal urge to flee the suffocating crowds.
From his seat by the window, he could see the earth falling away beneath
him. But a hand gripped his trembling fingers and gave them a reassuring
squeeze. The same hand tucked him in a blanket and eased a pillow beneath
his head, which had begun to droop toward his chest. He was weary from
the weight of his farewells. Turning his head, his pale eyes found the man
seated beside him and offered a nervous smile.