countless hours together, sharing dreams and secrets, until life's currents began to pull them in different directions

I loved you as the sun loves the earth, as the moon adores the night. And in this life... I can offer you sanctuary.

The Mariners Apartment complex loomed behind him

the summer breeze carrying the melodies of jazz artists performing on the lawn

He was a rebel without reason, intoxicated with the thrill of defiance and the invincibility of youth.

sped past the chemtrails streaking across the baby blue sky

her memories, her past, stolen away by the cruel hand of fate and a twisted expanse of twisted metal.

The flames danced wickedly, casting grotesque shadows on the stone walls of his hidden sanctum.

her eyes sparkling brighter than the acres of emerald velvet adorning her corseted gown.

But skies were not endless anymore. They were encrypted, monitored, gargling with the beastly belabored drones of the theocracy's omnipresent control.

she was a woman unmoored, her spirit tethered to the world by an invisible leash that pulsed with each painful beat of her heart.