Janie. Does not like. To be called. Buffy.

Janie calls Cabel. "Hi, uh, Mom," she says. Cabel snorts. "Hello, dear. Did you make it through the blizzard?" "Yeah. Barely." Janie grins into the phone.

Go force your condescending man-logic on the next house. You can go now.

He kisses her. She kisses him. They kiss.

No rash decisions. No big commitments. Each day as it comes.

She gets to school late. Bashful gives her a tardy, and won't reconsider. Janie always hated Bashful. Stupidest. Dwarf. Ever.

A trapped soul waits for redemption. It waits. And waits. For her to take her last breath.