“Maybe if you opened your eyes you wouldn’t be afraid of the dark.” Said he. “Maybe if you closed yours you would be.” Said she. And on and on they played their game until the dawn when the darkness touched the light in such a way as to terrify him and make her fearless. They sat that morning, the boy shaking in fear, the girl laughing without a care in the world. There sleepy thoughts slowly mingling into one. They were sick. Not physically, but emotionally. Completely sick of this whole century. They dreamed of leaving, going to outer space, where nothing depends on what they had to say. Where not being able to find the right words was acceptable. But they could not, if they did they wouldn’t have come back, so silently they settled for where they were. Catching fireflies kept them alive. The fireflies reminded them of the stars and the moon, the dreams and what was true. But that morning was not to last and by midday all had crashed. Crashed and burned without even a faint hope of repair. She so desperately wanted to go, she was no longer afraid of the darkness and everything fit now, all was perfect. But he was afraid, the vast darkness of it all had him trembling, he couldn’t breathe.
“Don’t go.” He had whispered, as she had torn his heart from his sleeve and taken it with her. But she could not be stopped.
She was fearless now, a princess on a mission. He was a coward now, with no intermission.