“I’m alone.”
The thought sears the minds of most.
In the square, where many gather for news, two people think it at the same instant.
Their eyes meet.
She is stuck here, too. Still, her eyes hold no blame.
He doesn’t pity her. Familiar desire in his eyes.
Neither wants to end in sadness or in loss.
Distance between them dissolves. Looped together, they slip into porous ground.
Re-emerging in a desert hollow, smooth bodies meet. Entwining in a gentle knot of unending touch, the exhilaration of sharing fills them both as the world around them empties and goes dark.