An Inch Away

The fire of the Holy See illuminated the dark night and burned away the last of the boy's warmth. Adrian fell in front of her wheelchair, his blond hair stained with blood, and his fingertips were only an inch away from the hem of her skirt. "I will burn my heart out for you and I will not regret it." Liliana sat there, not crying or yelling, just quietly watching him lose his temperature. Later in the winter, she moved to a manor in the suburbs and sat in front of the window every day, watching the sunrise and sunset. The scent of the medicine was still there, but the person pushing her away was missing. One morning when the snow fell, she quietly closed her eyes in front of the window, like a piece of snow, melting silently. The fire burned out and the snow fell. No one knew that the piece of snow had once been a bunch of fire, and it stayed still for one second longer.