it happened like this

they hadn't spoken in weeks. then he promised he would see her before he left. she knew that the bus leaving the country departed at noon. she didn't know where he was. at 11:45 she sat at the base of the clock tower overlooking the stretch of hill waiting for her phone to ring. at 12:05 she wrapped herself in a sweater, walked to the nearest tattoo parlor, and asked how much it would cost to have the broken half of a whole inscribed into her upper arm.