Airless: excerpt from chapter twenty-one

"Why do you love me?"

Days had passed before I found the courage to ask such a bold question. His eyes carved me over as I turned in embarrassment. His cheeks would twist with that crooked grin, and he spoke words, such resonant sounds, I thought I'd never hear.

"The first time I met you--the first time I saw you--I wasn't entirely sure what I thought."

My head bowed as I glanced out a dirty window. "You didn't have an opinion? You didn't have a train of thought?" Overlooking the river, the breaks of the surface due to protruding rocks mesmerized me, but they proved not distracting enough to keep my thoughts off of Ray.

He moved around the room, and folded the blankets we had slept upon for the past couple of days. "I wouldn't say I thought nothing. Have you ever felt as if the air was sucked from your very lungs, and you were dying for breath due to the absence of a loved one?"

My eyes fell to complete my bland expression, knowing the thought of blankness and maybe even a bit of betrayal. Betrayal from who? From that single loved one, or maybe even our creator who I thought little of.

"I know of it."

My eyes remained black.

"It was that same feeling, but," he trailed off. "Occurred backwards."

A bit confused, "You felt as if I sucked the air from you?" I directed.

"Yes."

My estranged expression pushed him further.

"As if I had loved you for a very long time. The void was filled."