STRANGE HOW THOSE WORDS can’t ever be followed by another sound. As if your ears shut down in shock, a protective mechanism, refusing to hear anything else in case it turns out to be more bad news. The world receded. Music stopped. People vanished. Gravity deserted us. Time became meaningless. We were alone, clinging to one another as we spun madly through a world that no longer made sense. The vodka played its part well, spinning the room at just the right angle and slapping blinkers on the side of my face, that old familiar tunnel vision that seasoned drinkers know so well. All I could see were her eyes, emerald windows into a soul I’d once known as well as my own, cherished more than my own. They were infinity, holding entire worlds of caring and pain and longing within themselves. All
