He arrived in dusk-colored robes,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx6TG2yqGSY
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbS2kAgatfI
He did not sit.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfg3b7XSnVU
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 long11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHu93IEsUw
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq9dshmGeci
Beyond it.
He said:11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5pcj5a0gu
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXuP1naC2o4
“You’ve given them so much.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLIFsngMe5
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCUcRMBTAv9
No secret.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2GPi2jJIyH
Just a walk.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvd4Ca1eUlc
11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡElUyhLNyNL
“Come with me.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJZ1nzpcuH
Just for one moment.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzOSSPXPL3q
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡerW8cMNC17
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdI0dfoRgA5
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFG4VTpDO3
Not a rule.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcLmeSqtTwR
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAyUgJmgZu
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmm3GOrYKi
needing silence,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbX3kDJfucp
needing warmth,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3x7BQxNZX
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3orLkvEjQE
Like he had needed me to choose,11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpmDdmZudJv
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.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyz3hGubFUn
Bitter.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMd2x9ImMn
Gentle.11Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZfsrrK4H7K
Grateful.
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