Chernobyl

Dark whispers from the Basin seemed to infect the perfection of the moment and she cringed. It was getting late and she knew that the warriors would be pacing the borders now, surely waiting for intruders but still making the exception to question even those Basin members returning home at night. She wondered if they would question the strange scent upon her skin or the new shine in her eye… She didn’t want to go but priority pushed her from his warm embrace. This night was one that would be forever remembered because she knew that his heat had warmed her cool heart. However, before she could go, he trapped her there with his words. Was she happy? She could say that she was in the premise of success. She was working for something beyond what she had been given and maybe one day when she felt she was satisfied with the results, she would return to him.

Perhaps that would be the day she would answer his questions fully and explain her sense of obligation. They had been born into different roles in this life and now she was being forced to honor her own word. It was a frightening thing to feel so tied down to something she had done herself because promises were not something she would break so easily. She turned back to face him, dark tendrils of unruly forelock hanging over her eyes in an effort to conceal her emotions as she spoke. “I am happy for what I’ve accomplished here and for what I think can come of it. There is no easy way to tell you that I give myself away so easily, but it is something that I desire and perhaps need in order to feel whole.”

She wasn’t sure if it would make much sense to him and maybe it wouldn’t make sense at all… but this was her life, was it not? It didn’t have to make sense to anyone else. A hardened shell seemed to come over her now and remind her of the things she’d sworn- dark things that would horrify her explorer because she was not as light as she seemed. But that was why she had chosen the Basin, right? In order to nurse her twisted fantasies to life and claim a name for herself? She looked back into his eyes for a moment, pure emotion roiling behind her thick lashes. This would be the last time she saw him for a while- she knew that much. It was hard to walk away, even more so without saying goodbye.

But she didn’t think the words could pass her lips so easily. She didn’t want to be the one to say farewell.

But oh, I'm staring at the mess I made
As you turn, you take your heart and walk away