It is so hard to be like this, just a fragment of something so endless that being separated from it feels like any one of the grains of sand beneath her feet, washing away in the sweep of the tide. Would the beach notice its absence? Would the ocean notice its gain? She feels so small and insignificant, helplessly lost.

But this person sees her, and his smile is so gentle that she feels she could fall into it, could land softly in his voice. ...It was gentle before, too, when she was given something to drink. And it ruined her, broke her away from the green earth, left her grasping for anything to fill that void.

But she's alone now, and he's still so kind, even when there's nothing left to gain from her.

"She... Likes music. And colors. And plants and animals... And she tells me things. In a lot of voices that don't use words. But they make me feel warm and happy. I'm supposed to remember and grow..." Was supposed to remember, was supposed to grow...

She stares down at her hands, pressed just below that emptiness in her chest. "But I did something bad, and it hurt a lot, and... And they're gone now."