The Final Week

From out of the shadows comes me. Living in the light is Chris. Go Mondays!

I suppose this final week started yesterday, but there are seven days left. And today, we passed 45k. The final corner, the finish line just up ahead. The tie in is somewhere out there, the great big wrap up is possible. Possibly.

Not sure what I've written today, though it's over 1300 words. The good stuff was yesterday and conveniently, I forgot to post an excerpt. So, uh, as always, here are some words:

Dui smiled, stronger now. Estelle beamed down at him, ecstatic in his approval. She stood above him, Dui still slumped in the chair, but sitting slightly straighter, his will slightly stronger, his mind slightly clearer. He looked up at her, his eyes bright though ringed with red, puffy, sore, rubbed raw, but still bright, alert, crisp like the air, crisp like the breath that caught in his throat as she leaned down, as she leaned closer, as she closed her eyes and he knew that in a moment a line was about to be crossed, things were about to change, and that's when Annie came back.

The office door opened, and there she was, standing, in the doorway, outlined by the late winter late afternoon sunlight, in all her glory, with all her beauty, with all her presence. Dui jerked his head towards the door at the noise, Estelle leaned back from the imminent kiss, the charge of the looming contact still in the air but dissipating quickly, fading into ozone and crushed expectations. Dui saw Annie and could no longer see anything else, his heart immediately beating faster again, his memories of Annie flooding back, his memories of love flooding in. After all this time, after all these months, there she was, unannounced, unperturbed, smiling, there. And in his head it was like no time had passed, like nothing had come between them, like there weren't years of separation, the agony of betrayal, or ignorance, or misunderstanding, or anything between them except for the love, the partnership, the connection. And in his eyes she was all that was there. And Estelle had disappeared until she cleared her throat and Dui looked up at her, sprang to his feet, Estelle forced to jump back. She cleared out of the room, attempted to look busy, attempted to look unaffected, Dui watched her for a moment, for a brief moment, before his attention returned to Annie, only Annie.

"Hello. Miss Godfrey," he said, the formality of the words feeling strange in his throat, on his tongue. He tried again: "Annie." That was better, though strange in its own way.