• The sky was slate gray, dark with heavy clouds. All at once, the heavens opened, showering a downpour of rain. Large, wet drops fell on her face, but she didn’t care.

    The cold of the steel bench bit into her, but she didn’t care. Nothing was left for her. Everything she’d hoped for or loved was gone. Gone forever, never to return.

    She felt the rain run down her face, but didn’t feel the cold. Her fingers felt as numb, as unfeeling as her heart. The rain came down harder, but she didn’t feel it.

    Betrayed. That’s how she felt. No one knew her now, and no one cared.

    How could they?!

    She had been one of them.

    Accepted.

    Remembered.

    Loved.

    She couldn’t feel anything anymore.

    This almost came as a relief – no more pain, anger, suffering. Her tears were gone, along with the heartache she’d felt.
    No more laughing, yelling, crying…

    The small, empty bottle slipped from her nerveless grasp. Her sightless eyes opened once, then fluttered and closed for the last time.

    She was gone. Gone like the rest of them.

    As her eyes closed, a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds onto her pale face, and a nearby bird began to trill a low, mournful tune.

    It wasn’t her time.