Nineteen
The Changeling
At first, Haq would tell Nakia of the strange noises and lights that haunted their bedroom walls, every time Nakia had a nightmare. He would always wake her up in tears, and for a long time, she never understood why. Eventually, he started to tell her how she would begin to float above their bed, weightless and free. Nakia would wake to find Haq’s arms thrown about her, howling for her to stay. Her strange otherworldly connection was first truly felt on the night she had accidently disappeared. That night, as Haq would recall later in his life, the lights and noises had been especially alien. He had meant to reach for her, to wake her, but the moment he had touched her, she had dissolved into light before his eyes. He cried out for her in an empty room. He wept
