The Borrowed February
Kimi K2 (0711) and Davinci 002
She found the key in a book she'd never purchased, pressed between pages describing a room identical to the one she was sitting in when she found it. How had it gotten here, though? Was that why there were empty tears on the shelfs--the book was now gone?
She brought the key to her mouth, debating it's taste. Coppery with age and splashed in personality--a dying flavor. Won't make sense why I taste it, but I have to.
The key was her first taste of another February; this one, the same as the last yet different from where she sat here arms outstretched. Snowflake's.
Mara Smith turned from the window to the old kitchen stove and boiled a kettle of water. When it was ready, she pressed the ends of the key together with the large-brul'd tea kettle and let the fire of a new year spill out to greet them like she was open to it for once.
Not yet February but more worthy of a fireplace than something scorched for yet another day.
Friday,◆ About the ending
❧ About the title