[ for Joe, dated to July 27 ]

[island_anne]

Anne could do nothing at all at first, for she had a crying child in her arms and a whimpering dog at her feet and a profound sense of absence in her home and in her heart that weighed her down, kept her sitting by the bedside long after she should have begun to take care of things

Comments

[jdick]

Sitting on the bench in front of his hut, Joe had his boots up on a half-assed table he'd made, his guitar in his lap. Strumming in an absentminded fashion, he caught sight of Anne heading toward him with Matthew and lifted his hand in a wave before he realized that something was wrong.

"Anne?" he asked, setting his guitar aside as he got to his feet, watching her curiously.

[island_anne]

Anne cradled Matthew to her chest but nothing she did could stifle his sobs, and it was heartbreaking to say that she thought the only thing that would bring him some peace was crying himself to exhaustion.

She opened her mouth to say something to Joe but the words wouldn't come, she couldn't say it, and she ended up having to stifle a sob of her own as she reached him.

[jdick]

There was only a few things on the island that could make a person look like that, he'd learned that much after watching it happen time and again, after going through it himself and Joe found he couldn't say anything either.

Reaching out, he wrapped one arm around Anne's shoulders, tugging her toward him, making sure not to squish Matthew between them. She'd tell him when she could, but he thought he had a pretty good idea of what was going on.

[island_anne]

Joe would surely understand just what she was feeling in this moment, for Joe had endured this as well. She knew that she would go on - must go on - but right at this moment she wanted only for someone to understand and console her, and help her to endure this first day when everything had suddenly changed.