The sun was setting, and the growing twilight was gathering a slight summertime chill. She folded her arms over her chest and shivered, not only because of the cold.

She was by herself, a lonely soul at the edge of the world. The scenery around her was beautiful, long shadows dancing across the sunlight, but she would have appreciated it more had she not felt so cold, so numb.

The girl was an absolute stunner. She had long, loose brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. The boys flirted with her and the girls wanted to be her. They wouldn’t if they knew what was racing through her heart right now.

She missed her mother so much that it spilled out of her, vicious and deadened thoughts that she couldn’t express with words. But she’d expressed them some other way. The faint cuts on the back of her hand were proof. She ran her fingers across the scars with satisfaction.

The evening was growing darker and she couldn’t stay here.

As she turned away, she whispered three words to her mother.

“I love you.”