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Always and Forever<br />
I dreamed of light and faceless faces. I dreamed of Gid’s<br />
hands and the feel of his lips. I knew the ridges of his thighs and the<br />
swirls in his fingertips. His tongue tasted of mint and rain.<br />
Scenes flipped from one to the other without warning.<br />
<strong>First</strong>, I was on a bus, trying to shave my head. I didn’t know why I<br />
wanted to shave my head. I couldn’t stop. I took a spoon and<br />
scraped it over my scalp over and over, but the hair wouldn’t cut. It<br />
pulled at the roots, but nothing came off.<br />
Gid sat with me, and stared, but I couldn’t speak.<br />
Something told me he was smiling, like this was funny to him.<br />
Anger flooded through me. I bunched my fist, but then my body<br />
locked up and I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t<br />
breathe. I choked and gagged and shivered. Gid ran his fingertip<br />
along my jaw.<br />
“This is love,” he said. “You cannot get away.”<br />
The world tilted and spun, and I stood on a corner down by<br />
the water front. Rain fluttered in from the mountains. Men and<br />
women ran by me. I was invisible. Out on the river, tugs and ferries<br />
steamed through the red and silver waves. Water rose over the<br />
seawall and swirled around my ankles. I sank into the muddy bank.<br />
Trees reached out for me, but their fingers were too brittle, too<br />
weak.<br />
I was dying.<br />
“You can live forever,” Gid said.<br />
He stood on the water, not reaching for me, not doing<br />
anything to save me. I tried to climb his leg, but he was smoke and<br />
rain.<br />
I slipped below the waves. Green light filtered in. I<br />
couldn’t breathe. I kicked and fought, and my lungs quivered.<br />
Everything exploded.