When she could no longer hear the fading sound of the car engine, Brianna listened for a moment to the patter of the fine rain in the silent world.
She lowered her head, looking at the pile of dying embers in her chest where a few sparks had flickered, now growing cold again.
She scoffed, then froze for a moment.
To think that even in this state, she could still be moved, a few warm embers stirred, by a stranger and a few cheap words.
Though they had already died out, Brianna couldn't swallow her disgust at herself for so easily becoming naive.
'How disgusting. Did you really think the world would finally offer you a sliver of kindness?'
She raised her hand and dug her five fingers viciously into her own cheek. Her nails tore through the skin that had lost its ability to heal, carving deep furrows. The scraped-off fragments of skin and flesh packed tightly into the crevices of her nails.
'You deserve this, Brianna,' she told herself.
But she didn't feel the pain.
