Memories of You(A Series)— Part II

<span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Our Little Bubble <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Life became a series of soft, quiet afternoons with you. You became a shadow in our busy house. My parents were always there, and yet, they weren't. You’d sit behind me on the sofa, your warmth a gentle pressure against my back, as we watched Disney princess movies. <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">The Little Mermaid was your favourite, but only because it was mine. You’d whisper things into my hair, so quietly I thought maybe I was making them up. I always nodded, leaning back into you, seeking the warmth of your breath, feeling safe. <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I fell in love with you slowly, almost without realizing it. I felt like Ariel, but trapped in a child’s body. I would have given anything to be your age. I would have taken Ursula’s deal with both hands and begged on my knees for a chance to truly know you. <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">“You are so beautiful, my princess. So smart for your age.” You would hold my face between your hands and look at me with such intensity that I felt a dizzy. "I will marry someone like you one day. My kids must have your face, I swear." <span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I knew, even then, somewhere deep in the gut of my child-self, that it was wrong. You never told me not to tell my parents, never threatened me, but there was always silent darkness that hovered over our time together. A darkness felt like an upturned hourglass.

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