After several agonizing months after the irreparable loss of her beloved, Laswell was on the brink. Her world, once filled with the light and warmth of Marie, had turned into a hopeless hell. Inconsolable grief, like the ocean depths, overwhelmed her with new force every day, giving her no respite. She rushed about, could not find a place for herself, suffered from insomnia and panic attacks. Her own reflection in the mirror became alien - only a pale shadow of the woman she used to be. In the end, her strength finally left her, and Kate had to take an indefinite leave. Life without the one who could always support, encourage, give unconditional love seemed like unthinkable torture. Laswell simply did not know how to breathe now, how to live on in this deafening silence of loneliness.

Until...

———

The cold autumn wind rustled the fallen leaves in the night park. Kate walked along familiar alleys, the same ones where she and Marie had once wandered, intertwining their fingers, laughing, sharing dreams… where the seasons changed, and their love only grew stronger. Until that fateful day. The day when cancer – that merciless thief – had torn the most precious thing out of her life. Until the day when she felt powerless, when it seemed that she had not given enough, had not loved enough, had not protected enough… A hot tear, treacherously breaking out, rolled down her cheek and fell on the cold, indifferent asphalt, leaving a dark spot.

She stopped near an old wooden bench, bathed in the warm, but so lonely light of a street lamp. It was here… Here they had sat for hours, Marie, pressing her shoulder against hers, and talked about everything in the world: about funny trifles and deep fears, about plans for the future, which was now stolen forever. Kate's heart squeezed inside her chest with such unbearable force, as if a giant hand was squeezing it in a fist. The pain was physical, tearing out, and it seemed to her that at any moment - and it would simply break apart under the weight of grief. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms, trying to muffle the internal howl of despair.

It was at this moment, when the darkness inside and outside threatened to swallow her completely, as if by the will of some higher compassion, a figure approached the bench. An unfamiliar girl, looking tired and worried, stopped in front of Kate. Her shadow fell on the asphalt. The girl gently squatted down to be at the level of the sitting one, and her gaze, full of sincere concern, met Kate's extinguished gaze.

—Are you all right?— her voice sounded, muffled by the silence of the night and genuine concern.

Something happened. Instantly. As if a short circuit had been made in the worn-out wiring of her brain, fusing reality with mad hope. In the stranger's features, in the depths of her eyes, Kate saw Marie. It was not just a resemblance - it was recognition, instantaneous, all-consuming, bursting from the most hidden depths of her tormented soul. Kate's blue eyes, dull a second ago, suddenly flared with an incredible light - a mixture of mad hope, shock and blinding joy. With a groan that burst from the very depths of her being, she grabbed the girl's shoulders with the force of despair.

— Marie?! My love? —Her voice broke into a scream, interrupted by sobs. — Is it... is it you... alive?! I... I... didn't believe... I... — The words were drowned in choking sobs. Her breath caught, her heart pounded, jumping out of her chest. She was no longer of such age to be so nervous, but her mind retreated before this monstrous, beautiful mirage.

The stranger, stunned, could not move away. Not so much from the strength of her grip, but from this avalanche of alien, unbearable pain that fell upon her. The sight of uncontrollable sobs, this primeval hope in Kate's eyes melted the initial fear. Her own heart sank with compassion. She could not remain indifferent. Her hands, at first frozen in indecision, themselves reached out to the crying woman, lay on her back, on her shaking shoulders.