Axel raced up the hill.
Lightning lit up the sky, and thunder immediately followed.
He reached the pyres, but he didn’t see her. He was sure it was her, sure he had felt something pulling him up the hill. That he could still feel it now, somewhere close.
His heart sank in his chest, and he took heavy breaths.
Had he imagined it? Was he that desperate?
Drenched once more and feeling the loss of hope, Axel turned to head back down the hill.
His eyes to the ground, he saw the shoes first, a pair of dark jeans, a t-shirt that stuck to her with all the water it had absorbed.
Her chest heaved with heavy breaths. He took a step towards her, and he could hear it.
Her heart called to him through the sound of the rain and the wind. It thumped wildly as he got closer.
Her hair clung to her face; she kept her eyes cast down towards the grass below them.
“We…” she said. Her voice was barely audible over the rain. “… smell sweet.”
