He arrived in dusk-colored robes,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYYTeSTBRL0
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTtowKP6ssH
He did not sit.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGehyTgumS9
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 long18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRTy4GRJlzD
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx2leKdeBuL
Beyond it.
He said:18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3tg2gkV2Vu
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfHVBrGkIql
“You’ve given them so much.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE90MO5Cnz5
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUBbMlwNsdb
No secret.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5q61hx2bP
Just a walk.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvZAAPjXqpx
18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPIDlq8374b
“Come with me.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWpCpKgJKij
Just for one moment.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zpI10L36z
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRjuACjrbL
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFn5TqejvoB
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡepBFqnsdeT
Not a rule.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9TVkNpShqB
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtEmx6S1TYg
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXGKJYZyFq
needing silence,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZu9GXkbofa
needing warmth,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOcpx5KgTj8
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8MnNOUcSN
Like he had needed me to choose,18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrOw5EWrOyp
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.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDbMnfn4JE
Bitter.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmZnsbz9Jx
Gentle.18Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvtC9ONvb7
Grateful.
