Sunshine cascades in through my bedroom window. I lie awake, still. I hate these early mornings. The everlasting softness of my bed comforts me. I never want to leave. I throw off the covers, a chill courses through my body. The alarm finally ceases its incessant beeping. I crawl back into bed, feeling Soft and Warm once again.

She grabs his wrist to keep the knife from crashing into the space just beneath her collar bone when an image of her fingers lovingly gliding through his enters her mind. “Damn past lives” she mutters. His eyebrows raise in surprise, confirming that he saw the momentary vision as well. She takes his momentary falter as an opportunity to tighten her grip on his wrist, causing him to drop the knife. His eyes focus and narrow as he reaches for the knife. However, she quickly grabs it and uses all her body weight to flip the pair over so that he is under her. She is just about to plunge the knife deep in his stomach when he cries out, “Wait!” She stupidly stops. “Don’t you see? Don’t you love me?” His eyebrows furrow into a strange expression. “No,” she snarls, digging the blade into his gut as his scarlet blood splatters across his face.

I strode along the dirt path, confident in my way. I had traveled this rode many times before, and I was the sole traveler. As I continued to walk, the large object came into view, and I smiled, I couldn’t help it. As I approached the object my smile grew wider, proud of what I was about to do. I began to pull at a dark tarp I had placed over the large object on my last visit. The sheet came off with a whoosh of air, knocking my long, hazel hair behind me to rest on my back. The river behind the object continued to flow fervently. I gazed into what was revealed to be a mirror, and I was not surprised to find a demon staring back at me. I knew he was there and I knew he was happy to see me. He asked if I had obtained the object he needed. I then took it out from the flowing sleeve of my dress. A knife. Not an ordinary knife however. A knife that would set my love free. I began to slice around the four edges of the mirror, giddy with anticipation. As the knife came to a stop where I had began to cut, the shiny material fell to my feet and dissolved into smoke. My love stepped out of the mirror and wrapped his arms around me, his horns nearly taking off my head as he did so. He let go and greedily kissed me. I smiled at him and placed my hands firmly on each of his arms. I knew he was unable to see that the mirror was no longer behind him, and that nothing was preventing him from backing into the cool water of the river. With that thought, I pushed backwards with all the force I could muster, sending the only thing I had ever loved to perish in the river, water, his only weakness. I dusted off my hands, and peered forward, making sure and clear that he was well and dead. I turned on my heel and went back the way I came, down the lonely dirt road.

In time, the dirt path was overgrown and no trace of my love was ever found, no mirror in the woods or horned body in the lake. I could finally, after all these years, rest easy.