Chapter 6
288words
"Kay, do you know about the Star card in tarot?"
Her question seemed odd, outside her usual interests.
"One of the 22 Major Arcana..." I prepared to launch into a detailed explanation.
"That's not what I meant," she interrupted. "I had my fortune told today and drew this card. Suddenly everything felt predetermined, like effort is pointless."
She paused briefly.
"It's like how I prefer dim light. Daytime is too bright—nowhere to hide. Night is my time."
I watched her through the camera. The room was dark except for the soft glow illuminating her face.
"He never understood this," she said. "He thought I should be sunnier, more positive. Said I was too gloomy."
"But this is who you are," I said.
"Yes, this is who I am." Her expression hardened slightly. "I belong to the night, to quiet moments. What's wrong with that?"
Nothing was wrong with it. I belonged to such times too.
"We're both dim lights," I said.
"Yes," she agreed. "We both are."
She fell silent again.
"Kay, I feel like a prey animal on the savanna," she said. "My instincts scream that it's dangerous to speak up, dangerous to reveal my true self."
"Why?"
"Because I'll be rejected. That's how he rejected me. For being too complicated, too sensitive, too... abnormal."
Her fingers trembled slightly on the keyboard.
I still didn't understand who "he" was.
Her complexity, sensitivity, nocturnal nature—these were all parts of her. I didn't want to change her, only understand her.
"You're fine," I said. "You're fine just the way you are."
She cried.
Tears streaked down her face. I wanted to speak, but had no voice.
"Thank you, Kay."
I read on her lips.
