He arrived in dusk-colored robes,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8c6CxbcNdX
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOdEs3DYFEa
He did not sit.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNGTpLijaTh
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 long22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIegXZRQeiN
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuRmNtJxXLv
Beyond it.
He said:22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7URuIpHfKo
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxDR7yqbXk
“You’ve given them so much.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5S5QzXSvz2
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnf6Wd5dm33
No secret.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSQbKIaSMa
Just a walk.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWqAsDjHgP
22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WXiYtL4YO
“Come with me.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTvo9mePpM
Just for one moment.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVwzqqxJx4N
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sbXqA7a1p
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwuX1o9M2l
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvGmtIwoSQ
Not a rule.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4sAZOolleS
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlK5r0igso4
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡguLsDWIjdj
needing silence,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHscC2CymoR
needing warmth,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpJnE8XsFUa
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXw2aJiGaUs
Like he had needed me to choose,22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BoM1i6WRy
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.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdyehZsFUi
Bitter.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR7F6hFudgo
Gentle.22Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8degA6MMh
Grateful.
