#3.

Her life was a curling highway.
She never saw nor feared the turns, but she was aware she was travelling much too fast.

All she could do was stare at the walls of trees before her. Unintelligible, unmistakably dense and empty. Devoid of light and love, a black hole. She thought about being lost between the folds of the earth. The damp, cold, hollowed out root of mountains. The thick brush beneath the towering Cedars and Tamaracks. The gentle ferns and wild flowers covering what was left of the scars of violent motions millions of years ago. She felt safe, she could disappear forever. No one would find her in this impenetrable place. It felt like the most important discovery of her life. The ability to be gone.

Altitude was a factor, she felt sick. Dizzy and frantic, motioning for someone to see her falling into this place of ultimate calm. As if crying out "I need you, please don't let me be safe here, alone!" The sudden safety she felt just minutes ago turned into a terrifying nightmare.

"I need you, don't let me be alone".

#2.

He was a dead man walking.
He never knew nor understood why the sunlight refracted off his face in ghostly hues of purples and yellow. He never understood why she found him attractive or let him do things to her that she never dared tell anyone. Things best kept secret and unspoken, things reserved for final confession.

She wasn't a dime a dozen girl or a thrift store beauty but she certainly didn't belong in Park Place and her asking price would be that of a discarded newspaper on Baltic. She knew that she'd have to embrace her demons to erase her outer appearance and she'd made peace with the idea years ago.

He settled into bed and watched her parade around the room. She was wearing some frumpy grandmother type bra that was two sizes too big, he could steal glances of her supple skin without her knowing. Her panties didn't match, but he expected nothing more than a haphazard attempt at feminine beauty from her.

She saw him watching her, and if it were possible to feel emotion, she would have blushed endlessly at his gaze. Everyone seems broken inside. Pawns on a game board.

She coaxed herself onto his lap. He exhaled loudly. She sighed a silent sigh.

She slept through the night that night. The first night in years.

#1.

Dipping her toes in, she couldn't help but feel a slight shiver beginning at the base of her tail bone extending quickly upward toward her neck. It was cold year round, there was no arguing that, but something about today made the water even more chilling. More despondent. More angry.

She sat carefully at the edge of the beach, her ankles resting in the surf. She had always found the thrusting of the water more comforting than even sex. Something about how the waves would never cease even if they were tired. Something about that passion that only nature could contain, which made her feel like she could never be truly alone.

She laid down amongst the discarded clam shells and the driftwood and slept for what felt like days. She woke to the sound of seagulls and the feeling that nothing would ever be the same again.