His hand crept toward the young woman’s and he hesitated for a moment. Then, with a final flinch, his fingers encircled hers. A small arc of electricity appeared where their skin touched. Sighing, he looked around at the world again. The two of them were invisible now. They could sit like this for a while and nobody would pay them mind. It was not that they had truly vanished, but, rather, that there was something about the boy that caused people to look all around him without allowing their gazes to rest on him.

The girl’s hand changed in the gentle cradle where it rested. It became cold and textured like she had just emerged from a long soak in the water. The boy gazed at her for a minute, noticing how remarkably different she looked from when he first joined her. Then, she had been vibrant, full of youth and possibility, but now she looked tired and haggard. Her eyes were deeper set and little purple shadows rested below them. Under her wide brimmed hat, her hair had gone from a brilliant chestnut, to the dingy, hoary color of the aged. Letting go of her hand before she withered away all together, he picked a daisy that had been growing behind the bench and laid it on her lap. He knew she would wake up the minute he returned indoors, and he knew she would be dazed. As she went on with her day, she would see her reflection in a store window or a puddle from the previous day’s rain and go mad with lack of understanding. That was what always happened.

Art by my friend B$. Check out her Twitter and Tumblr.

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