.


11:59


.

Sam gets up quietly.

He loves Jess, and he is going to settle with her. He is going to propose to her; she is his whole world. He will love her forever.

He will give her everything. (He will give up everything.)

Sam brushes the salt out of the windowsills, away from the door. This is his new life. This is his world now.

.


00:00


.

Across the room he watches the numbers on the digital clock change.

Sam crawls back into bed with the woman who is going to be the rest of his life.

It is no longer his brother's birthday.