[Swingset. Consuming blackness. A promise.... Aubrey’s expression tenses with recognition. The finger part, less so, but she has a guess....]
You know… I used to talk with my friend Sunny on a swingset. [How’s he doing, she wonders… it’s anyone’s guess, even with those last three days. For all Aubrey liked to think otherwise, he might’ve been closer to Basil in the end than anyone.]
He’s a good listener… [He is. She can’t bring herself to use past tense.] I talked to him about things I never told anyone else.
[Before the world can force it:] That question, about whether I’m clingy— yeah. I think I always have been.
[Her eyes wander down to her hands. A pinky promise… she’d always been afraid to ask.] I’ve always needed people more than they needed me.
no subject
[Swingset. Consuming blackness. A promise.... Aubrey’s expression tenses with recognition. The finger part, less so, but she has a guess....]
You know… I used to talk with my friend Sunny on a swingset. [How’s he doing, she wonders… it’s anyone’s guess, even with those last three days. For all Aubrey liked to think otherwise, he might’ve been closer to Basil in the end than anyone.]
He’s a good listener… [He is. She can’t bring herself to use past tense.] I talked to him about things I never told anyone else.
[Before the world can force it:] That question, about whether I’m clingy— yeah. I think I always have been.
[Her eyes wander down to her hands. A pinky promise… she’d always been afraid to ask.] I’ve always needed people more than they needed me.
[And it tears them apart.]