It's warming up, slowly, out by the lake, but it still tends to be chilly in the evenings. Nita's swaddled in a hooded sweatshirt as she ambles along the shore, hands in her pockets, except when she decides to skip a rock across the water. (Usually they go about three skips before sinking.)
This time last year, she was still sleeping more than eight hours a night, exhausted; she was sore, and trying not to feel nauseated every hour when she remembered the feeling of
claws, or the gaping absence where something Bright used to be.
A whole year that she hadn't expected to have.
This keeps
happening.
It makes a person thoughtful.