Dreams.

“Shhh. Shhh.” Her hair is the color of the sky that burning, dark night. Her face is unreadable through the shadows, her features undefined as she looks down to the cloth in her arms. “Shhh.”

Was she beautiful? Do I look like her? In a crowded room, would I be able to point her out?

The city is bustling, though it must be late. She is rushing, for reasons unknown. She glances down to the cloth bundle in her arms.

How long had she been planning this? Did she know what she was doing?

“Shh. Shhh. Zhè shì zhèngcháng de.” Her voice is so quiet, speaking to the cloth in her arms. The city is in constant motion. So is she.

Did she really say this, or would I like to think she has? Distorted, that is what it is.

There are two buildings, side by side. Between them, a space of a foot, maybe two. Trash, not large amounts like most of the city, litters the burning cement.

Did she know what could’ve happened? Did she even care?

She ducks into this tiny alleyway. It is so dark, serious. She bends down, places the cloth bundle in a place among the trash.

No…

She peels back the blanket, just a bit. Tiny eyes, staring up. She turns away, leaving all this. All that could’ve happened, all that did not.

What was it about me? Why did she want this badly for me to be rid of?

There is this new life, crying out, now. Lost, not yet found. The sounds of the city drown out all the loss of that little alleyway.

When I see her leave me, I know I’m such a waste of a person.