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Speaker 1: My wife always asked me if I would love her

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if she was a worm, or an animal, or even

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a bug. I'd never given that question much thought. I

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used to laugh when she said it, thinking it was

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one of those harmless, hypothetical things that people in love

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say when they're trying to be cute. I always told her, yes,

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of course I would. She tilted her head, squint at

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me for a second, then nod satisfied, and move on

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to something else. I loved her, not the kind of loud,

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fiery love that burns itself out or tries to prove

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something to everyone else. I loved her in the way

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you love your own breath, something you don't even think

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about most of the time, but couldn't survive without. She

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made the world feel less sharp and hostile. She had

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this way of looking at everything that made it seem

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more alive, even when she was dead quiet. Just sitting

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at the kitchen table with her tea and the crossword,

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the room felt full. Her presence stretched into everything. She

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had quirks, dozens of them. She refused to kill bugs

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in the house, no matter how many legs they had.

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She always had to sleep on the left side of

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the bed, even in hotels. She whispered small apologies that

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every tree we passed when we went hiking, even the

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ones already dead. And she believed in things odd things,

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not in a delusional way, but quietly personally, things she'd

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never forced on anyone. She believed certain birds carried messages.

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She believed in the number thirteen, not as unlucky but

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sa And she believed in the protective power of a rosary.

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She kept that rosary with her every single day. Not

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once did I see her leave the house without it.

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Sometimes she wore it tucked under a shirt. Sometimes she

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looped it around a waist, but it was always there.

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She never talked about why, at least not in detail.

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I only knew that something had happened when she was young.

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Her entire family died in a car accident when she

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was fourteen. She was the only one who walked away

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from the wreckage. After that, she changed, started being the

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cautious woman I know today. Over time, I came to

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accept that the rosary wasn't about faith. It was armor,

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a thread she held on to so she wouldn't unravel.

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I never questioned it. I didn't need to understand it

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to respect it. She had been the one to suggest

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the retreat. We talked about taking time off for months,

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letting the world blur behind us for a little while,

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But it never went beyond the idea. Something always came up, work, errands,

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people needing things. That autumn she brought it up again,

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only this time with dates already circled on the calendar.

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She said she'd found a place, a cabin deep in

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the woods, just the kind of esthetic she liked. She

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told me she wanted to feel air that hadn't passed

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through events. She wanted the stillness of pine branches above her,

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the smell of wood smoke in her hair, the strange

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quiet that came from being far from any one else.

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I said yes, without even asking to see the place.

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When she showed me the photos later, it looked like

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the place would be cold, no matter how hard you

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try to warm it up. The walls were narrow, the

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windows small. There was a tiny dock jotting out over

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a dark little lake behind the trees. She clapped when

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I told her it was perfect. Before we left, she

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made me promise i'd do the hiking trail with her.

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I asked how long it was, and she waved the

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question away, saying it didn't matter, that we'd figure it out.

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Then she said something I'd think about every day after.

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She said, once we get there, I won't want to

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come back. We both laughed. She meant it as a joke,

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obviously I laughed too, kissed her, and we packed our things.

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The drive out took most of the day. As the

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road narrowed and the trees grew thicker on either side

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of the windshield, she grew quieter. She let her hand

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dangle out of the window, her hair lifted in the wind.

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The sun was soft through the glass. By the time

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we pulled up the gravel road and saw the cabin

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appear behind the trees, dusk had already settled. The porch

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creaked under our feet, and the door stuck a little

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before it opened, and there was the scent of old

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dust and pine sap clinging to the walls. But the

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place was warm, proving my assumption about it wrong. She

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walked through it, slowly, brushing her hand along the furniture,

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looking out each window like she was memorizing every view.

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Then she kicked off her shoes, dropped into the old couch,

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and sighed. That night, we lit a fire and sat

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together on the floor in front of it. She fell

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asleep first. Her breathing slowed until it matched the rhythm

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of the wind brushing the roof, and I didn't sleep

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for a long time. I stayed there beside her, watching

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her face move through dreams. I watched the chest rise

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and fall. Her hand was still holding mine. There was

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a peace in that silence that I couldn't explain, and

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I loved her more in that moment than I ever

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had before. She looked weightless, as if the world outside

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the trees had never existed at all. The next morning,

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we started early, while the air still held a bite

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from the night before. She wore her boots lace tight

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and carried a canvas bag with water, a journal, and

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a snack. She insisted we'd probably forget about the trailheads

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sat behind the cabin, half covered in ferns, with no

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marker beyond a splintered wooden post buried in the underbrush.

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She led the way, moving with steady steps and a

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small smile. I kept tugging at the corner of her mouth.

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I followed close behind, watching her braid catch against the

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shoulder strap of her bag. The trail wasn't easy. Roots

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rose up from the soil and waited for ankles. The

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incline grew steeper the further we went, winding around slopes

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where fallen trees leaned together overhead. A stream accompanied us

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after the first mile, thin at first, its surface broken

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by pebbles and pale green leaves drifting without urgency. Sunlight

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passed through the pine canopy in slow moving ribbons. It

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stretched across her arms as she walked, weaving through branches

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that dipped and bent under their own weight. Birds stirred occasionally,

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but distant, one or two short calls, but nothing that lingered.

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Moss gretled the sides of stones in patches that grew

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thicker as we climbed. Some of it yellowed in the

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way that made me think of old wounds instead of

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new growth. We didn't speak much. There wasn't a need.

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Her breathing was steady, and mind followed suit. Occasionally she'd

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turned around just the check I was still behind her,

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and we'd exchange a smile, then keep going. I don't

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remember how long we walked. My legs had grown sore,

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and the shadows had shifted enough that it was probably

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close to midday, the stream had pulled away from the

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path again when she stopped suddenly and tilted her head

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to the left. Her fingers brushed aside a curtain of leaves,

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and I watched her shoulders shift, and she took a

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step through them. She didn't call for me, She just

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stood there, still, staring into something just beyond the veil

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of green. I moved up beside her, and we both

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stood in silence. A basin of dark rock had opened

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up between a ring of crooked trees. The stream had reappeared,

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pulling into a circular spring no wider than a small room.

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Shimmered slow and patient, catching light and shifting patterns that

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didn't seem to match the movement of the wind above.

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The water looked clear from a distance, but there was

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something unnatural in the stillness of it. No insects skated

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across the surface, no leaves floated. It almost looked held

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together by something beneath the surface, some tension that refused

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and let it ripple. She stepped forward, first, lowering herself

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down the incline toward the edge of the pool. I followed,

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careful not to slip on the damp stone. When I

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crouched beside her and reached down to touch the water.

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I expected a chill. Instead, it felt thick between my fingers,

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resisting slightly before letting me in. My skin came away

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coated in something I could quite describe. It wasn't oil,

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but it clung to me for several seconds before thinning

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out in the breeze. The air around the spring was

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noticeably warmer. The change was immediate and total. My arms

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bare beneath my rolled sleeves felt flushed. The sweat on

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my back rose to the surface faster, and I found

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myself breathing just a little harder, without realizing why. She

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didn't seem to notice. She dipped her hand in and

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watched the water turn glassy around her wrist. Her lips

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parted slightly, but she said nothing. Her fingers moved toward

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the chain and her neck delicately, as though she were

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undressing in the presence of something ancient. I watched as

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she unfastened the rosary and drew it out from beneath

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a shirt. The metal links had dulled over the ears,

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and a faint green betina had started to creep along

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the curve of the crucifix. She stared at it for

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a moment before speaking it old she said, sensitive, I

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don't want it to corrode in this stuff. She folded

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the rosary into a cloth she pulled out from her pocket,

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worn cotton, soft and faded, and pressed it flat against

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the rock beside the pool. She smoothed it out with

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her palm, anchoring each corner, as if afraid the wind

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might try to steal it. I waited until she was done,

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then unlaced my boots. The stone on the foot would

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slick with moss and cool to the touch, but the

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air here remained warm, pressing against my shoulders and cheeks,

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as if we had walked into a greenhouse sealed from

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the rest of the forest. She stepped in first, her

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bare foot, breaking the surface without a sound. The water

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accepted her without resistance. She waded forward slowly, arms outstretched

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for balance, until she reached the center of the spring.

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The surface rose to her hips. Her skin shimmered slightly

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when the water touched it, coated in something that caught

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the light. Unevenly. I followed, placing one foot then the

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other into the water. My breath caught in my chest.

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It felt strange, almost gelatinous. It didn't seem to resist

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her entrance as much as mine. The surface tension pressed

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against my ankles with each step, the water wrapped around me.

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When I reached her, she turned toward me, with her

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hair pulled back and droplets resting on her collar bone.

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She smiled, then, wide and bright. I cupped some of

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the water in my hands and let it run through

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my fingers. It left a residue behind, faint but unmistakable,

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something thicker than expected. I didn't say anything. She wouldn't

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have wanted me to ruin the moment with concern, I

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kept smiling. We stood there for a while, surrounded by

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trees that never moved, in water that never rippled, as

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if time had paused just for us. Her shoulders relaxed,

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her breath steadied. She dipped under for a second, and

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when she rose again, her laughter broke across the surface

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like something sacred. Later, back at the cabin, I would

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need to scrub my skin harder than usual to feel clean,

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But in that moment, standing beside her in the spring,

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all I could see was the woman I loved, glowing

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and a filtered sunlight. We eventually got out of the

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water and started making our way back. She grew quiet

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on the walk. At first I thought it was the

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fatigue from the hike catching up to her. The trail

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had been long, and the heat near the spring had

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left us both flushed and thirsty. Her steps became shorter, slower.

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I offered her water, and she took it without speaking,

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holding the bottle against the forehead before drinking. Her hand

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trembled slightly when she handed it back. By the time

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we reached the cab, the light was falling behind the trees.

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She sat down on the edge of the bed and

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rubbed the temples with the heels of her hands. When

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I asked if she was all right, she nodded once,

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but her lips stayed pressed together. A few minutes passed

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before she spoke. I don't feel great, she said, softly.

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My head's pounding, my stomach's off. I just need to

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sleep for a bit. I helped her out of her

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shoes and pulled the blanket over her. She called, and

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a side knees pulled in, breathing slow and shallow. I

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sat beside her until her eyes closed, brushing strands of

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hair from her face. Her forehead was damp. The fire

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pit behind the cabin sat unused, the logs untouched. I

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didn't bother lighting anything inside. Stretch of daylight filtered through

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the curtains in dull stripes across the walls. I found

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myself standing at the window, watching for nothing in particular,

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only listening to the sounds of the house breathing around me.

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Later that night, once she'd fallen into a deeper sleep,

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I stepped outside for air. The trees rustled gently, wind

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moving just enough to stir the ferns. On my way

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back in, I remembered the rosary. We had left it

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beside the spring, carefully folded in that cloth resting on

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the flat rock. I wondered if she had maybe forgotten it.

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I moved through the cabin and checked the counter where

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she'd set her bag earlier. I opened the pouch she

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kept smaller things, in no sign of it. Eventually I

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found the cloth folded neatly on the night stand beside

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the side of her bed, the same fabric she had

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used to protect it. It had been smoothed out, edges

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are lined, but the rosary was no longer inside. I

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picked it up, turned it over in my hands, then

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opened the drawer beneath it. Just in case she had

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moved it empty. She stirred behind me, but didn't wake.

239
00:18:30,519 --> 00:18:33,319
In the morning, I made a tea and sat at

240
00:18:33,319 --> 00:18:35,960
the foot of the bed while she drank it slowly.

241
00:18:37,119 --> 00:18:41,519
Her face was pale, her eyes heavy. When I asked

242
00:18:41,559 --> 00:18:45,480
her about the rosary, she took another sip before answering,

243
00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:51,920
I'll just get another one, she said, voice thin, but calm,

244
00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,839
it's just the thing. I can't think about it right now.

245
00:18:58,599 --> 00:19:01,839
I didn't say anything, I think I just blinked at

246
00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:05,000
her for a moment, waiting for the rest of the sentence,

247
00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:09,440
the reason, the part where she'd laugh and call herself forgetful.

248
00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:16,680
But it didn't come. She had never treated it as

249
00:19:16,960 --> 00:19:19,880
just the thing. For as long as I'd known her,

250
00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,279
that rosary had been something sacred. She slept with it,

251
00:19:24,720 --> 00:19:28,200
traveled with it. Once she turned the car round half

252
00:19:28,200 --> 00:19:30,880
way to her friend's wedding because she realized she had

253
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:35,920
left it on the kitchen counter, and now it was gone,

254
00:19:37,279 --> 00:19:42,480
and she didn't seem to care. I stared at her

255
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,480
longer than I should have, trying to decide if I

256
00:19:45,519 --> 00:19:48,839
was supposed to let it go. Her eyes remained in

257
00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:52,119
the mark in her hands, and her mouth didn't move again.

258
00:19:53,559 --> 00:19:55,759
Something in the room felt thinner than it had the

259
00:19:55,880 --> 00:20:06,160
night before, as if something had been peeled away. I

260
00:20:06,279 --> 00:20:10,400
woke up to cold sheet the next night. Her side

261
00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,559
of the bed had been stretched out, untouched since I'd

262
00:20:13,599 --> 00:20:19,160
fallen asleep. The blanket lay flat, Her pillow held no shape,

263
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:23,480
no weight. The small lamp on the dresser still glowed faintly,

264
00:20:24,079 --> 00:20:29,000
casting dull color against the wall. I sat up, blinking

265
00:20:29,079 --> 00:20:33,920
through the quiet, listening for footsteps, her creak, a sigh,

266
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:38,680
anything that might tell me where she had gone. The

267
00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:44,759
cabin didn't answer. I called her name once, then again, louder.

268
00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:50,480
Nothing came back. My feet hid the floor. Before I

269
00:20:50,480 --> 00:20:54,279
had fully registered what I was doing, the air felt

270
00:20:54,319 --> 00:20:58,279
sharp against my skin, the chill already collecting in my chest.

271
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,440
I pulled open and the bathroom door empty, checked, the

272
00:21:03,519 --> 00:21:09,920
kitchen empty. Even the front porch was still. By the

273
00:21:09,960 --> 00:21:13,519
time I realized she wasn't anywhere inside, I had already

274
00:21:13,559 --> 00:21:18,079
stepped out, barefoot, onto the damp boards. The trees loomed

275
00:21:18,079 --> 00:21:22,680
in black silence ahead of me, every shape sharpened by moonlight.

276
00:21:24,599 --> 00:21:28,119
I ran toward the trail, the ground bitter, my souls,

277
00:21:28,519 --> 00:21:33,240
twigs snapping, under each step, mud slick beneath the fallen leaves.

278
00:21:34,519 --> 00:21:37,680
My voice cracked as I shouted her name again, the

279
00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:42,000
sound tearing itself away from my throat. I bounced off

280
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:46,519
the tree, trunks fractured and hollow. I kept running farther

281
00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:50,079
than I thought she could have gone, breathing in short gasps,

282
00:21:50,519 --> 00:21:59,440
chest burning. My hands shook. Then I saw her. She

283
00:21:59,480 --> 00:22:03,279
stepped up from the trees without urgency, strands of hair

284
00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,839
lit faintly by moonlight, her arms hanging loose by her sides.

285
00:22:09,359 --> 00:22:13,599
Her expression was calm, A soft smile tugged at her lips,

286
00:22:14,160 --> 00:22:20,440
Quiet and unfazed. I just wanted to visit the springs again.

287
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:25,359
She said, they were so warm. Didn't you think they

288
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:30,440
were warm? She took a few steps forward and reached

289
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:35,599
for my hand. I didn't move, My body refused to answer.

290
00:22:37,079 --> 00:22:41,839
Something in me hesitated an instinct, too quiet to speak aloud,

291
00:22:42,279 --> 00:22:45,039
but loud enough to freeze my breath in my throat.

292
00:22:47,039 --> 00:22:52,119
I nodded. I didn't know what else to do. She

293
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:57,839
turned back toward the cabin and began walking. I followed.

294
00:23:06,519 --> 00:23:11,440
Over the next few days, the fever vanished, She moved easier,

295
00:23:11,839 --> 00:23:15,559
her appetite returned. She no longer clutched the stomach in

296
00:23:15,599 --> 00:23:18,599
the mornings or winced at the light near the windows.

297
00:23:20,000 --> 00:23:24,720
On the surface, she appeared healed. But the woman I

298
00:23:24,799 --> 00:23:29,559
loved did not come back from the forest. She laughed

299
00:23:29,599 --> 00:23:33,839
at the wrong moments. She answered questions without context, skipping

300
00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,240
the parts in between. When I teased her about something

301
00:23:37,279 --> 00:23:39,960
we used the joke about, she stared at me for

302
00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:45,200
several seconds before forcing a smile. Her reactions came too

303
00:23:45,279 --> 00:23:49,079
slow or too fast, never where they should have landed.

304
00:23:50,519 --> 00:23:53,599
She flinched when a bird hit the glass outside. She

305
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:57,839
jumped when I dropped a spoon. She walked quieter now,

306
00:23:58,559 --> 00:24:02,079
steps placed too evil, only on the floorboards, as if

307
00:24:02,119 --> 00:24:04,440
she didn't want the house to know she was there.

308
00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:10,960
Touch felt different. Her hand, once warm in mine, held

309
00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:15,240
no heat. Her fingertips rested too still against my skin,

310
00:24:16,319 --> 00:24:20,759
more like something mimicking comfort than offering it. She didn't

311
00:24:20,839 --> 00:24:23,559
lean into my chest when I pulled her clothes. She

312
00:24:23,599 --> 00:24:28,000
didn't breathe against my shoulder while she slept. But she

313
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:34,319
was here, and she was getting stronger. That mattered. That

314
00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:40,279
was something, and so I decided to make her a gift.

315
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,480
I gathered twined from the drawer and pieces of driftwood

316
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,519
from near the edge of the trail. I cut them

317
00:24:48,519 --> 00:24:52,480
into small segments, sinding them against stone under The edges

318
00:24:52,519 --> 00:24:56,400
were round enough to sit comfortably against my skin. I

319
00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,960
looped them together in the shape of the rosary she

320
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:03,839
had always carried, threading each piece carefully, whispering a name

321
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:08,039
under my breath each time I added a bead. I

322
00:25:08,160 --> 00:25:11,920
tied that not last, tight and clean, and held the

323
00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:17,240
makeshift chain in my palm. It wasn't beautiful, but it

324
00:25:17,319 --> 00:25:25,960
had weight. That evening, I offered it to her. She

325
00:25:26,039 --> 00:25:28,440
looked at it for a long time before taking it.

326
00:25:29,519 --> 00:25:33,160
Her fingers ran across the wood, her mouth folded at

327
00:25:33,240 --> 00:25:39,839
the corners, not into a smile. I don't need things

328
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:44,480
like that, she said, voice low. She set it on

329
00:25:44,559 --> 00:25:48,079
the table and walked past me, leaving the gift behind

330
00:25:48,279 --> 00:25:54,880
without another word. I stood there for several minutes, staring

331
00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:58,119
down at the loop of twine and wood. The knot

332
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:04,039
I tied held firm. I told myself it was fine.

333
00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:08,079
Maybe she didn't feel like herself, Maybe she needed time.

334
00:26:09,759 --> 00:26:15,799
I brushed it off. I had to. That night, while

335
00:26:15,839 --> 00:26:18,319
we sat on the couch with a blanket over our legs.

336
00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:21,279
She turned her head toward a dark window and said

337
00:26:22,960 --> 00:26:28,680
we should go to morrow. I looked at her, expecting

338
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:34,200
a smile. There wasn't one. Her eyes stayed on the glass,

339
00:26:34,680 --> 00:26:39,519
unreadable in the dim light. I want to go home,

340
00:26:40,160 --> 00:26:45,279
she said. I reminded her that she begged for this trip,

341
00:26:45,799 --> 00:26:49,720
that she had joked about never wanting to leave. She

342
00:26:49,799 --> 00:26:54,920
didn't answer. She just repeated the words again, slower this time,

343
00:26:55,559 --> 00:27:01,000
as if thing meant something I couldn't hear properly. That night,

344
00:27:01,039 --> 00:27:04,000
in bed, I reached for her hand under the covers.

345
00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:09,640
Her fingers rested in mind without pressure. Her skin felt cool,

346
00:27:10,119 --> 00:27:14,200
even beneath the warmth of the quilt. She didn't close

347
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:18,440
her eyes when the lights went out. I know because

348
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,359
I opened mine hours later and saw her still awake,

349
00:27:22,839 --> 00:27:28,960
staring straight ahead. In the morning, I watched her brush

350
00:27:28,960 --> 00:27:31,839
her hair in the mirror. The light through the bathroom

351
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:36,839
window caught her face, but her eyes didn't shine. They

352
00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:40,920
took the light in and gave nothing back, no reflection,

353
00:27:41,240 --> 00:27:45,920
no shimmer, just that still surface I had first seen

354
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:53,640
in the spring. The banging started just after three. I'd

355
00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:56,640
been lying awake, staring at the ceiling while her breath

356
00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,759
moved slow and even beside me. I and touched her.

357
00:28:01,519 --> 00:28:05,720
I couldn't bring myself to something about the stillness in

358
00:28:05,759 --> 00:28:10,119
her body didn't invite warmth. It only reminded me how

359
00:28:10,200 --> 00:28:14,200
long it had been since I'd felt it. The first

360
00:28:14,240 --> 00:28:17,720
sound shook the front door on its hinges, a low,

361
00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:25,160
wet slam, followed by silence, then another louder, as if

362
00:28:25,200 --> 00:28:29,200
something with weight and mass had thrown itself forward, not

363
00:28:29,319 --> 00:28:34,440
with rage but intent. The third knock rattled the windows,

364
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:38,279
sharp enough that one of the panes groaned against this frame.

365
00:28:40,319 --> 00:28:45,400
She didn't stir. I slid out of bed, feet, hitting

366
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,400
the wood with a dull thud. The hallway stretched out

367
00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:52,480
in front of me, dim with shadows that shifted with

368
00:28:52,559 --> 00:28:56,720
each movement I made. My hand trembled in the doorknob.

369
00:28:57,480 --> 00:29:01,839
The cabin hadn't felt safe in days, but this was different.

370
00:29:03,599 --> 00:29:06,440
The fourth knock came just as I pulled the door open,

371
00:29:08,359 --> 00:29:12,920
and then I saw it. The creature stood beneath the

372
00:29:12,960 --> 00:29:15,880
porch light, too tall for the frame of the door

373
00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:21,160
to contain in a single glance. Its body glistened, coated

374
00:29:21,279 --> 00:29:24,400
in a layer of translucent fluid that moved over its

375
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:29,319
own skin in slow crawling waves. Each inch of its

376
00:29:29,319 --> 00:29:32,400
surface shimmered with a film that caught the light and

377
00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:35,599
bent it into colors that didn't belong in this world.

378
00:29:37,200 --> 00:29:39,720
We just stared at each other for a long moment.

379
00:29:41,039 --> 00:29:44,519
Its head had been split into three long plates, peeled

380
00:29:44,559 --> 00:29:49,839
apart from the crown, angled outward and trembling gently. The

381
00:29:49,880 --> 00:29:54,079
plates curved with jagged seams, their inner edges wet and raw,

382
00:29:54,599 --> 00:29:57,640
revealing an absence where a skull should have held shape.

383
00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:04,079
The face, if it had one, offered no center, no symmetry,

384
00:30:05,119 --> 00:30:10,480
just those three plates, shuddering open around nothing. The mouth

385
00:30:10,559 --> 00:30:15,319
moved separately, for thick slabs of flesh curled outward in

386
00:30:15,519 --> 00:30:22,359
uneven petals, retracting and revealing the tongue within, black swollen,

387
00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:26,920
ridged with grooves, coated in a sheen that reflected every

388
00:30:27,039 --> 00:30:32,519
flicker of motion. The tongue didn't rest, It pulsed against

389
00:30:32,559 --> 00:30:37,880
the open air. Tentacles hung low from its chest. They

390
00:30:37,920 --> 00:30:42,599
weren't limp or drifting. They twitched in small, deliberate motions,

391
00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:47,000
flexing inward and outward, testing the space between them and

392
00:30:47,079 --> 00:30:52,400
the cabin's threshold. Their ends were pointed too narrow for bone,

393
00:30:52,440 --> 00:30:55,680
to be inside them, and they reached for the air

394
00:30:56,079 --> 00:31:00,839
as if it held answers. Its muscle tissue was bare.

395
00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:04,519
In some places, the skin torn away or never formed

396
00:31:04,519 --> 00:31:08,839
at all. The exposed fiber flakes with each small movement,

397
00:31:09,519 --> 00:31:13,079
veins thick and dark, running in webs over the surface.

398
00:31:14,119 --> 00:31:17,559
They pulsed under the skin, but the rhythm was irregular,

399
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:22,640
off in a way that made my stomach twist. From

400
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:27,400
several torn pockets of flesh. Yellow puss bubbled and slid downward,

401
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:31,440
slow and heavy, pulling around the base of its legs.

402
00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:35,400
The liquid hissed where it met the porch, but no

403
00:31:35,559 --> 00:31:40,720
smoke rose. No smell followed, only the sound of dripping.

404
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:45,359
But it was the eyes that made my breath catch.

405
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:50,960
They were set too far apart from each of them.

406
00:31:51,640 --> 00:31:56,680
A viscous substance wept in long, steady strands. The tears

407
00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:03,000
were thick, glassy, but not water. They glowed faintly, trailing

408
00:32:03,039 --> 00:32:09,160
down the creature's face in slow, unbroken lines. It looked

409
00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:16,319
like it was crying. The creature leaned forward. It tried

410
00:32:16,359 --> 00:32:21,119
to speak, a gurgling breath pushed out, rough and slurred,

411
00:32:21,720 --> 00:32:24,920
its voice broken by moisture and too many folds of

412
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:35,079
ruined flesh. Wait, please, the sound of rot forming speech,

413
00:32:35,799 --> 00:32:39,160
wet valves spilling through something that had never been meant

414
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:43,200
to talk. I didn't understand what it said at the time.

415
00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:49,920
My legs had already started to move. I turned and ran.

416
00:32:51,680 --> 00:32:54,880
I didn't look back. The door swung wide behind me,

417
00:32:55,279 --> 00:32:59,640
banging against the wall, hardenough to splinter. My feet pounded

418
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:03,559
the floor boards, slick with cold sweat, each step loud

419
00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:07,319
enough to wake the dead. My chest felt caved in,

420
00:33:07,960 --> 00:33:11,680
lungs crushed on the panic. I shouted a name as

421
00:33:11,720 --> 00:33:16,160
I moved, hoarse and broken, the sound, cracking at the edges.

422
00:33:17,599 --> 00:33:19,960
I threw the bedroom door open so hard and nearly

423
00:33:20,039 --> 00:33:24,839
tore off the hinge, lying flat beneath the covers, arms

424
00:33:24,839 --> 00:33:30,240
folded neatly above the blanket, her eyes open, fixed on

425
00:33:30,319 --> 00:33:37,119
the ceiling, she didn't flinch. The pupils were large, wide

426
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,359
enough to swallow the color in her irises, and the

427
00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,599
whites had taken on a faint yellow tint that hadn't

428
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:47,880
been there the night before. I rushed her aside, dropped

429
00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:51,640
to my knees, grabbed her arm, shook her gently, then harder.

430
00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:58,039
We have to go now, her head turned slightly with

431
00:33:58,079 --> 00:34:03,160
a movement, but a gaze never shifted. Her mouth stayed closed,

432
00:34:03,519 --> 00:34:08,000
her chest rising and falling in a slow, steady rhythm.

433
00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:11,559
The sound of wood breaking echoed through the hallway behind me.

434
00:34:12,719 --> 00:34:16,639
The creature was inside now, Its weight bent the house

435
00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:21,679
around it. I stood, grabbed the door and slammed it shut.

436
00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:26,119
The lock clicked into place beneath my hand, but I

437
00:34:26,199 --> 00:34:30,559
knew it wouldn't matter. My heart hammered so hard I

438
00:34:30,559 --> 00:34:34,400
could hear it in my ears. My skin burned, drenched

439
00:34:34,440 --> 00:34:38,519
in sweat. I pressed my back against the door, staring

440
00:34:38,559 --> 00:34:43,920
at her, whispering a name between sobs that had no shape.

441
00:34:44,119 --> 00:34:50,639
She didn't answer or move. We couldn't leave. There was

442
00:34:50,679 --> 00:34:54,920
nowhere to go. Whatever I had let in it had

443
00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:59,360
already made its way through to us. The creature reached

444
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,519
the door and broke through it with one swing. Wood

445
00:35:03,599 --> 00:35:07,159
splintered in every direction. The hinges ripped off its frame.

446
00:35:08,519 --> 00:35:12,360
It stepped inside, its form, bending as it moved beneath

447
00:35:12,360 --> 00:35:16,679
the narrow ceiling. The floor sagged under its weight. Its

448
00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:21,039
eyes wept in steady streams, the thick fluid falling soundlessly

449
00:35:21,119 --> 00:35:25,400
to the ground. My hand reached blindly toward the table

450
00:35:25,440 --> 00:35:28,960
by the bed. My fingers closed around the makeshift rosary

451
00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,920
I built for her, a twine, the pieces of driftwood

452
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:35,880
I had cut with my own knife shaped for her hands.

453
00:35:36,880 --> 00:35:40,000
I turned and hurled it toward the creature with all

454
00:35:40,039 --> 00:35:46,920
the strength I had left. I was desperate. It struck

455
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:52,400
its chest and bounced to the floor. The creature stood unchanged,

456
00:35:53,760 --> 00:35:59,920
its head, tilted, its plates trembling slightly. Then it turned,

457
00:36:01,559 --> 00:36:07,119
not toward me. It charged across the room toward the bed.

458
00:36:08,920 --> 00:36:12,360
My wife, lying there didn't react until its weight was

459
00:36:12,440 --> 00:36:16,719
upon her. It pinned her down, massive limbs, pressing into

460
00:36:16,760 --> 00:36:21,000
the mattress. Her mouth opened in a slow, delayed gasp.

461
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:29,199
Her arms flailed once, then stopped. I lunged, throwing myself

462
00:36:29,239 --> 00:36:32,679
at the creature's side, my fists pounding against the muscle

463
00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:38,119
near its ribs, and sank in swallowed by soft, shifting tissue.

464
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:42,079
I hit it again and again, screaming through my teeth,

465
00:36:43,280 --> 00:36:47,239
but it didn't react. My punches had no more effect

466
00:36:47,400 --> 00:36:54,400
than raindrops hitting mud. The creature reached down. It picked

467
00:36:54,480 --> 00:36:58,599
up the rosary, lifted it above her face, then shoved

468
00:36:58,639 --> 00:37:05,320
it between her teeth. She began to scream. It didn't

469
00:37:05,360 --> 00:37:09,159
carry through the air like a human voice. If I braided,

470
00:37:09,679 --> 00:37:13,320
folding in on itself, laid in ways my ears couldn't

471
00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:18,760
make sense of. A rose in volume, collided with itself, reversed,

472
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,960
and built again. It sounded like something tearing through flesh

473
00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:27,000
made of glass, like insects, screaming in patterns that only

474
00:37:27,039 --> 00:37:30,960
made sense to the dead. Her back bent high off

475
00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,079
the bed, The rosary pushed further into her mouth, drawn

476
00:37:35,199 --> 00:37:40,159
inward as if consumed. Her skin peeled in long sheets,

477
00:37:40,639 --> 00:37:45,119
starting from her shoulders. The collar ran away, first fading

478
00:37:45,159 --> 00:37:49,800
to gray, then pink, then something closer to translucent meat.

479
00:37:50,840 --> 00:37:54,920
Her bones cracked beneath her chest. One of her legs jerked,

480
00:37:55,119 --> 00:38:00,320
spasming hard, before twisting inward and folding beneath her body.

481
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:05,599
Her jaw unhinged, her eyes rolled back. She let out

482
00:38:05,679 --> 00:38:09,320
one final sound, one that didn't come from her mouth,

483
00:38:09,760 --> 00:38:13,800
but from the walls, from the air itself, a sound

484
00:38:13,840 --> 00:38:17,920
that made me fall to my knees. Her flesh began

485
00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,639
to slide. It poured from the bed, dripping in ropes

486
00:38:21,679 --> 00:38:25,039
across the wood, seeping through the seams in the floorboards.

487
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:29,920
Her limbs softened, her spine curled in on itself, then

488
00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:39,679
disappeared under the sheets, and then she was gone. Nothing

489
00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:43,519
left but the wet stains spreading across the mattress and

490
00:38:43,599 --> 00:38:48,440
the way to my chest there refused to leave. I

491
00:38:48,519 --> 00:38:53,880
collapsed backward, knees giving out beneath me, my chest pulled inward,

492
00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:58,679
ripped hollow by something worse than pain. I screamed the

493
00:38:58,760 --> 00:39:02,119
names through a throat or already torn ragged, and when

494
00:39:02,159 --> 00:39:06,400
no sound followed, I screamed it again. It was a

495
00:39:06,440 --> 00:39:13,760
sound only grief makes. The creature stood motionless, breathing shallow,

496
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:21,480
its ribs expanding in uneven intervals. Then slowly it turned

497
00:39:21,519 --> 00:39:26,039
toward me. Its mouth moved before the words reached the air.

498
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:31,599
The sound, once gurgled and gatule, had softened. The voice

499
00:39:31,639 --> 00:39:34,559
still pushed through layers of wet tissue and bone that

500
00:39:34,679 --> 00:39:38,679
hadn't grown in the right places, But the words now

501
00:39:38,800 --> 00:39:49,559
landed with intention. I'm sorry, it said. I didn't know

502
00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:56,159
how else to show you. She's been inside me since

503
00:39:56,280 --> 00:40:02,840
the water. It she took my body and put me

504
00:40:02,920 --> 00:40:09,559
into it. I shook my head. My hands rose without command,

505
00:40:10,079 --> 00:40:13,679
fingers bent, desperate for something to hold on to. That

506
00:40:13,920 --> 00:40:21,559
wasn't dissolving. No, I muttered, no, no. The creature knelt

507
00:40:21,920 --> 00:40:28,639
joint bending in silent, disjointed movements. His chest expanded. One

508
00:40:28,639 --> 00:40:32,400
of its tentacles reached the water floor and unfolded. A

509
00:40:32,519 --> 00:40:36,000
delicate object pushed its way out from beneath the surface

510
00:40:36,039 --> 00:40:43,440
of its skin. Her rosary, the real one, worn at

511
00:40:43,480 --> 00:40:47,960
the edges. The silver chain dulled, the crucifix still scratched

512
00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:50,920
where she used to fidget with it during long car rides.

513
00:40:52,719 --> 00:40:59,639
It lay down the rosary between us. Ay, it said,

514
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:09,440
I remember everything. I would never leave this rosary behind.

515
00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:20,000
You know this, but I'm so so scared. Its voice

516
00:41:20,039 --> 00:41:25,000
cracked on the last word. Something in it trembled, not

517
00:41:25,079 --> 00:41:29,719
the body, but the soul buried inside it. And for

518
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:34,119
the first time, I didn't see a creature. I didn't

519
00:41:34,119 --> 00:41:41,639
see a threat. I saw her, and I stayed. I

520
00:41:41,679 --> 00:41:44,960
scrubbed the floor until the stains faded. I gathered the

521
00:41:44,960 --> 00:41:48,239
bed sheets and took them into the fireplace behind the cabin.

522
00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:52,360
I watched them burn down to threads, felt the heat

523
00:41:52,480 --> 00:41:56,000
by my skin. Waited until the wind carried the last

524
00:41:56,000 --> 00:42:02,320
of the smoke into the trees. She didn't leave, neither

525
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:08,639
did I. We moved through the house in silence. At first,

526
00:42:09,599 --> 00:42:13,280
she took small steps through the rooms. Her body dragged

527
00:42:13,320 --> 00:42:18,360
wet shadows across the floor. I cooked. She ate when

528
00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:22,960
I offered her food. She didn't use utensils. Her hands

529
00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:28,400
moved differently, joints bending in directions I couldn't name. I

530
00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:32,920
spoke softly to her. When she wept. I held her.

531
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:37,280
Thick strands from her eyes clung to my skin, but

532
00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:41,559
I didn't pull away. Her tentacles twisted around my wrist,

533
00:42:42,079 --> 00:42:48,159
loose and trembling. Whatever form she wore. Now, whatever thing

534
00:42:48,280 --> 00:42:52,719
she had become, it hadn't stripped her of what she was.

535
00:42:54,400 --> 00:42:59,480
She was still here. I brought her tea every morning,

536
00:43:00,199 --> 00:43:03,519
the same blend she had loved before, brewed longer than

537
00:43:03,639 --> 00:43:06,360
usual to fill the room with a smell. She used

538
00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:10,719
to say reminded her of autumn. She sipped from a ball.

539
00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:14,159
Now her mouth didn't work the way it once had,

540
00:43:15,519 --> 00:43:19,280
but she drank, and when she finished, she held the

541
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,679
empty dish close to her chest, as if the warmth

542
00:43:22,800 --> 00:43:28,440
meant something. We talked a lot. She asked about things

543
00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:33,159
we had done. Her memory was still there, but not fully.

544
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:38,400
She remembered details I had forgotten her first storm together,

545
00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:42,400
the hotel that smelled of cinnamon, the gas station where

546
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:45,239
we slowed, danced in the parking lot because her favorite

547
00:43:45,239 --> 00:43:49,239
song came on the radio. She remembered things that had

548
00:43:49,320 --> 00:43:55,320
left an impact on her soul. Some evenings, I sat

549
00:43:55,360 --> 00:43:59,280
across from her and stared for too long. There were

550
00:43:59,320 --> 00:44:03,960
moments I let my mind wonder. I saw her again

551
00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:08,199
as she had been before the spring, her hands brushing

552
00:44:08,239 --> 00:44:12,119
through her hair, her shoulders soft in the firelight, her

553
00:44:12,119 --> 00:44:17,360
feet tugged beneath her on the couch. For a heartbeat,

554
00:44:18,360 --> 00:44:21,000
I let myself believe that I couldn't deal with it.

555
00:44:23,599 --> 00:44:28,039
And then she smiled. The expression moved through her face

556
00:44:28,119 --> 00:44:33,119
with difficulty, her flesh stretched unevenly across too many teeth,

557
00:44:34,199 --> 00:44:38,199
her jaw open from both sides, bending inward in slow,

558
00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:43,239
trembling arcs. The smile didn't belong on a human face,

559
00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:51,199
but it was gentle, It was hers, and I knew

560
00:44:51,199 --> 00:44:59,719
it so Yes, I would love my wife no matter

561
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:00,559
what she was