He arrived in dusk-colored robes,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEcfGm82Cy
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNzEFF1Een
He did not sit.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw2NrL7r26s
He did not speak right away.
Instead, he stood at the tavern door and held it open.
And for the first time in… I don’t know how long16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aC3Fs8Xcm
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHvVOEkWNxd
Beyond it.
He said:16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1AQNmVu7m
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8k6NKjgHGZ
“You’ve given them so much.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHvtzZOS56
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHV57EO4MU0
No secret.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVdUU4vV9GX
Just a walk.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoKHymCCSiS
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqI3HxIcDPg
“Come with me.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSX86m7ZV5A
Just for one moment.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCR75GEFQce
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4m51J3HaX
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52e8JTLu2r
as if bracing to be empty.
I stepped forward.
Closer to the door than I had in ages.
I could feel wind on my fingertips.
But I remembered something then.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxul7DomGHT
Not a rule.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkY0xAx2K9
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn92beyVjmp
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYyIEVWIsHi
needing silence,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8q8mGSJbjP
needing warmth,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrYFvUcXve
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5z5GW1yeq2
Like he had needed me to choose,16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrvXixtaRn2
so the choice would mean something.
And then he left.
The door closed.
The fire relaxed.
And I brewed something just for myself that night.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jfhHMmpJx
Bitter.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpG7NvU8dCi
Gentle.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyUMvPnTpRU
Grateful.
