Gosh. I read this when it was first posted here but I just couldn't bring myself to comment. I was paralyzed with grief, I suppose. This is absolutely the saddest story I've read, to the point where I felt numb for hours after reading it and then again when reading through the comments here.

I'm thankful for this group for confirming my thoughts about what was happening - it's swimming in so much emotion it was perhaps it took a little too much effort to wade through the clues? I'm not sure if I would have wanted it to be any clearer, though. Perfect details, perfect imagery, and just enough negative space. Exceptionally well done, but I'm so glad there wasn't any more to read. Heavy on the heart.