Alissa stared blankly through her computer screen, wondering if it was the phosphorescent glow or the recent tears making her eyes sting, not that it mattered. Her eyes had given up too many tears. She was dry and empty; hollowed out like the sandy tree bark that held Zach’s awful creature. The image of the thing would not stop popping into her mind.
The entire night played over and over in her head, as though stuck on repeat. Going over it did not get her anywhere. Trying to figure out if she was truly in the wrong, or whether Zach acted heinously did not change the outcome.
‘Why didn’t I just apologise?’ Alissa thought. She wished she could go back in time to that moment and use her five seconds to regurgitate the kind of apologies she gave to Andy. The sort of apologies that c
