“Do you know what?” asked the boy.

“What?” said the girl.

“You’re very pretty.”

The girl blushed.

“Thank you,” she said with a smile.

The boy looked into the girl’s eyes. They were glistening and inanimate. Her whole face, her whole form: all pretty, all still. She was only as beautiful as she was immutable. And time would change her soon.

The boy looked away, looking ahead.

The girl looked ahead too.

They both looked ahead. Neither could see that far forward.

The boy squeezed the girl’s hand.

“I love you,” said the boy.

The girl rested her head on the boy’s shoulder.

She let out a sigh, and closed her eyes.

2.VIII.22