That was too many feelings words to deal with right now.

“Go,” she snarled.

She reluctantly started to turn away from the strange doe, and saw a glimpse of the still-lit sky filter through some of the canopy.

"Have you always been here?"

Had she…

She hesitated.

Flickers of the before time bled into her brain, like drops of rain slipping through the canopy of weeds, rippling into the lake.

She couldn’t bear it.

“So many questions,” she muttered, shrinking back, crawling back towards the waters.

Yet, the flickers rippled, and something long lost in her did not quite want to sink back yet.

She was about to ask another question, but instead decided to suggest:

"You could come out with me, if you'd like."

Handsome stayed where she stood, proceeding to fold her legs below her, and sat facing away from the waters. Her head turned a little.

"I can wait."

The suggestion, and what it stirred in her, shivered panic into her chest, and she streamed back into the water, trailing weeds

It was not for her, the time before, the world out there. Not anymore, nor was this handsome doe.

Handsome continued to sit patiently, for she had said she could wait, and wait she did. She waited as the sunlight dimmed, and the Swamp started to slide into night. She shifted, once or twice, to stretch her legs, but wait she did.

Then, when all that time had passed, when the night finally fell, when the Swamp was silent, and the lake was still as glass.

Then, she slipped from the waters, trailing weeds, and, unlooking, sat beside her.

END