By the window, spring light warmed their shoulders. Snow melted into streams outside, world thawing. Lauren met Mabel’s gaze, chest full. This time, through doubt’s pull, she’d trusted her perceptions, and it had freed them both, quietly, irrevocably.
They sat by the window, light warming old hands. Mabel smiled faintly, really. “I forgot what I wanted, for a while.” Lauren squeezed her fingers, chest light. This time, she’d trusted her perceptions through doubt’s fog, and it had changed everything for them both.