I woke Rahul in the middle of the night. He didn’t seem to mind, for which I’m glad. My mind had wandered, and I needed his help bringing it back. I lay and gushed about sirens. The kind that lure men to their death. About how they would lie in wait in the dark, until a victim tracked past. Then, in a flash of scales and light, they’d give chase to a beating heart. I was so very curious about them. About why they needed to kill to survive. And about why they lied, with soft words of protection and love. With soft words giving danger to something else. Some construct of vague black muck. All that, just to rip men apart. All that, just to pull men down. Men who dared to venture out. I asked Rahul why. Why they needed to do all that. He told me that it’s all made up. The sirens. They’re not real. He told me that there’s nothing in the dark but my mind and a few hazy memories. He left out my heart.
I didn’t like his answer. It rang false. So, I closed my eyes and thought about Tom.
