[Work in Progress]

My nervous eyes watch as his hand reaches for the light switch to turn off the light

and in less than a second

he’s gone.

It is just me beneath this soft and cloudlike comforter.

I do not remember the color.

I do not remember who is in this room with me, but I feel as the covers lift up

and another person slips in beneath them.

I take a breath and let my head fall onto the pillow below me.

And then I feel a hand wrap around my waist to pull me closer to its black silhouette.

The shape of its face is silent.

I cry out when lips brush mine

“Please, the light, turn it on.”

He hurries at the sound of my panic

The lights flash on and there he is

A sweet and caring first love from college

But in the dark I became sixteen

afraid of falling prey to a predator once more.