Even in a place you know intimately,
each night's darkness is different.
- Anne Michaels, 'Miner's Pond'
The Miles
There is a line that you will not cross for her, not dawn or dusk, but between disclosure and silence; like wandering icebergs, it migrates by the day.
In the pause after one sentence, and before the next.
'Bill's database,' she says, her chin resting on a bent knee. She is looking straight up at you. 'Am I ever mentioned in it?'
The marker stones move --
'No.'
She nods, unsurprised. 'But aren't I one of your...assets? What happened to "comprehensive and detailed"?'
There is a note of challenge in her voice. The bond is waiting, like a glassy lake, taut between you. A dishonest word would send the ripples passing over it.
'You are a treasure, and beloved, Sookie.'
Not the answer to her question, but the answer, as you see it, to everything.
'The truth puts you at risk.'
THE END
14 November 2008