The space was swathed in shinshin silence. He stole glances at her; however, he couldn’t penetrate her ironclad walls. These same walls he dismantled brick by brick for years had fallen right back into place barricading her heart from the world. She waited on the other side for him, a prisoner of the mind. Her lips didn’t move but her eyes screamed for him. The screams ran out her eyes and rolled silently down towards her mouth hoping to pass her lips. They miss their mark falling off a cliff towards the unfeeling hardwood abyss. His hand reached out to remove a brick but lacked the strength to follow through. It retreated to the safety of his pocket. He opened his mouth to speak but the first syllable suffocated his esophagus, stopping him before he got the chance. He looked upon the wall and conceded defeat. He walked away, leaving her alone behind impenetrable walls.
She was alone.
Alone, her heart seized. Alone, her head spiraled. Alone, she clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms in an attempt to overpower the pain she felt, to no avail. She gasped, her lungs filled and contracted, squeezing her heart so it could feel the warmth of a firm grasp. with each exhale the grasp subsided, the emptiness had returned. Her lungs and heart continued to dance as the room spun relentlessly around her. An eternity had passed, marked by rhythmic thumping of thunder coming from within her chest, resonating with the reckless rattling of her cranium. To keep up with their dance, she drew sharper breaths, each frantically, as her own body failed to steady. Each brief inhale carried her muted words and scribed them into the blank canvas of her lungs with ink to prevent them from fading into obscurity. Her lungs were stained black.
He returned, interrupting the dance.
He carried a white flag, brandishing it towards her. She did not accept it; he carefully placed it in the silken cradle of her palm. He stepped back and stood as a stoic sentinel, a monument of stillness, gazing intently, poised for the cadence of her next step. She wavered and met his eyes. He hesitated for a moment, afraid he was caught performing an act of taboo. When he thought it was safe, he met her gaze. Her eyes, like a forest bathed in the hues of autumn, caught his, beckoning him closer. He reached out cautiously and caressed her cheek to clear the ashen streaks staining her freckled porcelain skin. She flinched at his touch but ached for his embrace. She nestled her cheek into the comfort of the calloused pillow of his palm. Melting into him, his soul touching hers. Her walls crumble, freeing her from her cell. He pulls her over the debris and into his arms. They desperately cling to each other, entwining themselves together, fearful that the other will disappear. They cry together and their tears form oceans that make even Poseidon weep.