***

I cry and then I don't. There's a text on my phone, but I don't read it. I listen to the dark. They're all coming to get you. Your heartbeats are footsteps. Your brother is unwell. You don't have any friends. Nobody feels bad for you. Beauty and the Beast isn't real. It's funny because it's true. Don't be sad any more. Don't be sad any more.

***

After all, there were other clues that our lives had been built on rather shaky foundations. So we moved slowly because we thought that as long as you tore along the dotted line, life would take the right shape.