She knew that the sunset couldn't last forever, but somehow that didn't seem to matter anymore. She watched her child dance and play in the sparkling water, kicking up sand, and remembered all that they had been through. She wondered if he knew about the secret spreading through her body, proliferating and dominating with star-shaped madness.

He knew that she was dying. He saw the plastered smile on her face and the painful glint of nostalgia in her eyes. He had to keep running, keep kicking up the sands of time. He was afraid that if he stopped running, she would stop too. He could never let on that he knew.