Page 52 of Cherry Moon

Don’t go.

Come back from where? Happiness? What could be better than being here with him, forever locked in bliss.

This already happened.

“What?”

Aki twirled around the living room with his roses, laughing, singing along to the Britney Spears song.

This already happened.

Yes, happened before. Years ago.

“We’ve lived here for ___ years now.”

A missing number. What? Why was it missing?

The rain battered the windows, the temperature dropping. Shadows melted into the walls, consuming the cottage. Aki danced too close to them, parts of him being swallowed.

Taken away.

Gone.

Out of reach.

He doesn’t need to be.

A hole opened up in the floor made of rippling shadows, almost like oil. Bubbles formed and popped, beckoning me to take a dive.

No. Why would I do that? Going in there meant I wouldn’t be here with him.

“I’m staying,” I said.

The hole shrank slightly.

The darkness in the walls wrapped itself around Aki’s waist like a morbid lover. He didn’t notice, dancing and singing.

Why would I want to leave him here?

My ring finger itched. I held it up, a flicker of a white-gold band, a glimpse into the future.

Christmas time. Me on one knee. Proposing.

“Will you do me the honor of being my husband?”

It’d already happened. The ring was already on my finger, and his too.

The hole shrank again.

We were engaged.

I shivered from a bitter chill, rubbing at my biceps. “What is this?”

More darkness consumed Aki, claiming his face.

Gone.

He is gone.