she looks at me, panicked I tell her to run to run with all she has they won't stop and I can't stop them and she is all I have right now there is a time to mourn the dead and a time to cherish the living but why mourn when another is still alive and not beyond saving? they're almost here I can feel the hoofbeats rattling rattling through what used to be ours what we built together with our own hands the quiet life we wanted to live she's already out of sight your pendant swinging wildly around her neck maybe someday I'll tell her tell her the story of how that amber came to be and why we never polished that golden stone but for now I close my eyes against the incoming tide and throw the torch to the wooden floor