He hid in his crumpled sheets, his pillow wet. He turned his head to the ceiling above. His body clenched stiffly. The room was drowned in his silence. He breathed rhythmically, that was all the effort he could manage. His intense green eyes glazed over. I crept in through the door.

My eyes peeked at his, drooped and forming tiny slits. His eyes peeled open. His body started to tremble. He bolted upward like a bullet released from its chamber. His eyes gleamed through small slits. He spotted me. I took a step toward him. I pressed a smile on my face. He swung his bare feet over the side of the bed. He put them on the brown carpet. He lifted his body slowly from the edge of the bed, like an old man arising from his nap. He took a threatening step toward me. His face shriveled, decorated with deep trenches. He reached up and slapped both his hands on the sides of my face. He yanked my face closer to his. His piercing eyes stared straight at me. His lips started to move and with them came an earth-shattering sound. He shook my head. His hollering intensified. He squeezed the sides of my head. He took a step closer. I stepped back. Another step closer; another step back. I slammed against the wall. His bellows did not cease. He continued to jerk my head, slamming it into the wall behind him. His eyelids gritted together, forming tiny half-moons.

My eyes stretched, trying to strip the glaze shadowing them. I reached up with both hands. My fingers ripped his hands from my face. I slipped under his blocking arm. He pivoted. His arm still hung suspended. Suddenly silence fell over him. A sly smile crawled onto his face. I stared back at him. He took a step toward me. I lifted my left foot, I pivoted. With my back facing him, I strode out of the room. I never glanced back.