He arrived in dusk-colored robes,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD2m3N1QULg
hands bare, but humming with something ancient.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzckQHLH9I
He did not sit.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAwS9r7XTw
He did not speak right away.
Instead, he stood at the tavern door and held it open.
And for the first time in… I don’t know how long24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG1kT6BPTW2
I looked.
Not just at the threshold.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmnRSyb8ZL
Beyond it.
He said:24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI73NNUvgkZ
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPuS6fw2aS0
“You’ve given them so much.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyBEit69SyU
Let me give you something.”
He offered no reward.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwwQNnBLk2j
No secret.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5DeUlbgwg1
Just a walk.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY8YSDVzJU7
24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb2Ad2RICll
“Come with me.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh88w3Tt8rY
Just for one moment.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJanuYyR596
The sky is turning a color it has never turned before.”
And for a heartbeat, I almost did.
The fire didn’t crackle.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡird37TmU25
It tightened.
The bottles on the shelf leaned slightly, not in warning but in ache.
Even the chair behind the bar felt colder,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPCvnlEIu8
as if bracing to be empty.
I stepped forward.
Closer to the door than I had in ages.
I could feel wind on my fingertips.
But I remembered something then.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzDWosGKQe
Not a rule.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3kUYZB6WR
Not a curse.
A vow.
Not to the world.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqGuAg2Nrfk
Not to the tavern.
To them.
To all who might still come,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAdsFQU7xVg
needing silence,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQf2CQ2VNZ
needing warmth,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIac0WLlZt
needing to be known.
So I stepped back.
He said nothing.
He only nodded, like he had expected this.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ15eiWhSQe8
Like he had needed me to choose,24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK3N6x9leDJ
so the choice would mean something.
And then he left.
The door closed.
The fire relaxed.
And I brewed something just for myself that night.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPFut5P7b3K
Bitter.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNqP22vJsOl
Gentle.24Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhekZeCh0iS
Grateful.
and then Add to home screen.