They came in loud.7Please respect copyright.PENANALtsRUtl6aY
Not cruel, just brimming.7Please respect copyright.PENANAw93ajtN4Gx
The kind of person whose presence fills a room before they know if they’re welcome.
They looked at the walls, the bottles, the stillness of it all.
And then at me.7Please respect copyright.PENANAmgua8VBnSo
7Please respect copyright.PENANAOPyKrkStWM
“You could be so much more.”
I said nothing at first.
I poured them a drink that cools the fever of ambition.
They drank.7Please respect copyright.PENANAR5YB3hFQsw
They blinked.7Please respect copyright.PENANAL78HRTwNlq
7Please respect copyright.PENANA5fQugSWbgo
“I am enough.”
They didn’t respond.
But they stayed a little longer.7Please respect copyright.PENANA5CqMNmSB8L
They looked at the fire differently.7Please respect copyright.PENANAsnu6QLsJAn
Quieter. As though realizing it had never needed to burn higher.7Please respect copyright.PENANA8zFUT32Xpv
7Please respect copyright.PENANAyaekHDQ3Jf
“Maybe that’s harder.”