I want to be on the beach on a cloudy day that doesn’t rain.

I want to take her by the hand and say

“Hey, let’s go play.”

Like we’re kids again. Like nothing in this world matters but us and the wild waters that beat against the silky sand that also melds between our toes. The silky sand that always stays warm, even though there is no sun. We get perfect tans even on that cloudy day, but no burns. The small crabs that hide in their holes until nightfall are out in full swing, scampering around with seemingly no destination in mind. A salty breeze permeates through the air, leaving a pleasant energy behind it.

But it doesn’t last. It can’t last.

For when one is happy for too long, a sacrifice must be made. A scale must be balanced and that scale is leaning much too far to the side of joy. A high can only be felt for so long.

A foul dark beast emerges from the water -- it closes around us. But it is no longer us on that beach, it is just me. Alone with the beast that ripped me from the one I love. Sand begins to fall away to the void; it wishes to take me with it.

I clawed and crawled and kicked and screamed, anything to escape. But the deed was done then gone.

All that one can hope for is a rope, anything to cling to that can pull them out. But a rope never comes. Nothing falls down those hellish walls that bind you to bring you out.

You sometimes think you see a distant light, but it comes as quickly as it goes. A hint of a smirk graces his face.

And so a love dies.

But outside those hellish walls, there is no heaven. There is only more hell. An eternal fire of torture that flays the skin and bombards the mind with agonizing abuse.

The lovers were separated, but not by choice.

And so a love dies.