To keep yourself in the right frame of mind, you dwell on every positive thought that you can conjure. You tell yourself that fortune eventually favors everybody, if given time to do its work.

- – -

It should be no surprise, then, when your next conscious moment is the first instance of sunlight, after only a few hours of sleep. You hear a distinctly male voice from her room – it’s saying something to which she protests, given her tone. The voice cracks open the door, stopping after just a few inches. Her shadowed form is barely visible. While the voices are no longer muddy, you still can’t understand a word

... you stare straight ahead, but the city is sideways. One eye is partially covered by sidewalk, and the other can’t make sense of how the buildings look. For your trouble, your cell phone lies open and damaged in front of you, just beyond your limited reach. Over the dial tone, you hear his muffled crying beside your ear. Warm alternates with cold until you are able to simply let go and float.