“Wait! Wait!”, he yelled, unable to offer resistance to Shane’s supernatural strength despite all of his muscles.

Shane laughed, her hair drenching and covering her eyes.

“Wait for what?”.

“Swim!”, he exclaimed, opening his arms.

Shane’s smile widened. She didn’t swim, but she spoke.

“…And then you just… fall…”, she murmured.

He nodded, spitting water.

“Yeah! You make up your mind to do it… and you do it”.

“And when you wake up, you’re…?”, Shane trailed off.

Dante stood up in front of her, the water reaching his navel.

“Yes…”, he panted, “…To smell the air. Taste water. Read a newspaper…”.

Shane chuckled, ecstatic.

“…To lie. Through your teeth”, Dante sneered slyly, “…To feed the dog…”.

“…Touch her hair…”, Shane whispered.

“What are you waiting for?”, Dante asked.

”…Shadows fall onto me
And she stands there over me
And waits to encompass me
I lay here helplessly
But oh what can you do
When she’s dressed in black…”

***

A few days later

Carmen was strolling in the park with Earl, the leash hanging loosely from her hand. She was throwing glances around, inhaling the scent of flowers and trees and grass, serenely and pensively. She watched Earl as he started running toward an old oak.

Shane was there, leaning against the hard, bronzed bark.

Earl reached her wagging his long tail, panting heavily, his dark eyes shining.

Shane smiled and kneeled down, caressing his head, scratching his ears. Earl seemed in pure adoration and Carmen smiled, shaking her head. Shane really seemed someone that you just couldn’t dislike and her dog, well, he was a very good judge.

“Hi…”, she murmured, softly, walking towards her.

Shane stood up and smiled.

“Hi…”.

“There is so much beauty up here…”, Carmen said, taking a look around.

“Yes”, Shane replied.

“…And here you are again”.

She stared at her, feeling her heart hammering into her chest. Then, she cleared her voice.

“We’ll release your friend Dante tomorrow”.

“That’s good”, Shane nodded, beaming.

“His family’s having a kind of a welcome-home party”, Carmen added.

Shane bowed her head, her eyes looking up.

“Will you be going?”, she asked, softly.

Carmen stared back at her and swallowed the emotion she was feeling.

“Will you be going?”.

They just stared at each other for the longest time. Then Carmen cleared her throat and pointed at the dog that was still wiggling his tail at Shane’s feet.