VALORIA WILDEROSE
The gentle sounds of nature wake me from my sleep in the same place I was last night.
A part of me was expecting to find myself back on my bed instead, because last night felt like a dream.
Talking to Azrael like he's but a person—an ordinary, boring person—felt like a fever dream: hazy and distant but with a heavy sense of realness etched in.
He smiled like a man would and made subtle jokes, aside from the usual death threats.
But there were glimpses where I could see the man Calliope talked about—a man who's simply bored and searching for something to fill the void of his vast, endless life.
Suddenly her words don't sound so cynical anymore.
I didn't think it was possible to fall asleep right next to him, but I slept so soundly without the usual headaches or nightmares.
And now the space he occupied lies empty and cold, as if all of it was just my imagination.
