The End
Sometimes, he still dreams about the girl.
He is always blind in the dreams. Anyway, he thinks he must be blind, because there is no way it could be too dark for him to see. He is blind, but he can hear everything, feel everything, and reality dissolves.
She gasps when his hand closes over her mouth, and he can feel that tiny suction, then the struggling as he holds her tightly, muffling her screams. He whispers desperate consolation in her ear until the feeble spell of his voice finally takes hold, and she relaxes into his arms, shivering with the sobs that cannot escape.
He tapes her arms and legs, wraps her in his jacket, and sits with her through the night. Her breath freezes on the air, and he can almost hear the chime of those ice-crystal clouds. His skin freezes and crac
