21. Writing Workshop: Untitled

She couldn’t believe it. Any of it. And she believed least of all that he had wanted to be there. He hadn’t been stranded… he had stayed.

Through the night she watched the clock. Time was passing so quickly! Already it was 3am. She felt like she must have missed something. Four hours had passed and she could not recall so much as a heartbeat. As they lay there she felt as though she were watching him with someone else. She stared at the arm curled round her waist. Tried to concentrate on the weight of it. Nothing was real.

Four o’clock! She turned so that she could watch him. Then she might remember what it looked like, if should could not feel anything. She never slept. Not at all that night.

In the morning, they lay tangled, awkward. They did not speak. First she was relieved. It was as if nothing strange had happened. Then disappointed. It was as if nothing at all strange had happened.