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I don’t have a choice, but I’d still choose you.
Beth watches the stars emerge, one by one, like a tangled necklace of diamonds. She wonders if it is worth it to wish on them, tiny specks of light, years away from her.
Through the forest he emerges, and the earth moves beneath her feet. She wants to ask how he does it, but she already knows.
It’s why her back straightens when his frame enters the fading peripherals of her vision. Why the hair on the back of her neck stands on end. Why her chest tightens, pulls like a rubber band, about to snap apart and send every molecule into the ground.
Beth has a secret.
When he begins to walk towards her, she pulls at the arms of her sweater; as if the threads could conceal her restlessness.
"Got you something." His voice cuts through the noise of the world.
"Oh yeah?" He places a rock into her open hands. It takes her a second, but she finally sees it. The rock has a perfect indent of a shell, swirling into itself with divine fossilized symmetry.
"Where did you find this?" The awe in her voice brightens the darkening sky.
He shrugs, “Sometimes birds relocate bits and pieces without realizing. Thought maybe you’d make use of it.” He steps back, and walks towards the group.
Beth holds the rock, turning it over with her fingers, a smile on her lips.
With one last look to the stars, she wishes that Daryl has a secret too.