He arrived in dusk-colored robes,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcgrpK1smu5
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOv5Ai4iUG5
He did not sit.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4VvM5B16N
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 long6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEbDrqRvzhH
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bueY1yJlX
Beyond it.
He said:6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhFVAexk67G
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyyRgTO8bM
“You’ve given them so much.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYAZmCytLXk
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT4i4KTPVdY
No secret.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANy6uaykMu
Just a walk.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNHNj88cLSx
6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQ7P2UPgnZ
“Come with me.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXU5oqVhRl3
Just for one moment.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsEkSY0Fgd
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygCIF0F7cC
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqDd2nJYOJT
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP6sWHQ4Duh
Not a rule.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrLZAvYxGF
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzMHP7oZ7u
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxH6s6AI48
needing silence,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbZK6aR6fp
needing warmth,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡradl5al8Hy
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV4y9PpaWxy
Like he had needed me to choose,6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYmjTBS2m4w
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.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYn8Smds7Ad
Bitter.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDmWTwaHX9
Gentle.6Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahTvLNUHiV
Grateful.
