Warmth
by Eli Dupree

He couldn't get to sleep because the warmth wouldn't come. The chill didn't reach his core but it kept him uncomfortable and kept him awake. Over and over he tried shifting his position but nothing worked... he couldn't get to sleep, he couldn't stop shivering and he couldn't stop thinking of his last meeting with Ani.
He had had to tell her that his parents were leaving the next day to flee the epidemic. She had tried to put it in perspective for him, but he couldn't remember the words she'd said, only the warmth of her hand laid on his arm as they talked. It stood out in stark contrast to the cold all around him, the last warmth he could remember, the only warmth in the world.
The morning before they left, the memory of Ani's warmth gnawed at him. He couldn't bring himself to leave her this way, neither knowing when they would see the other again, not even knowing whether they ever would. He put off his parents and went to see her a final time.
When they met, he threw his arms around her before she was ready and hugged her tight. His touch shocked her and she shoved him away, but turned moments later and looked down at him with pity and fear. She quickly said goodbye and hurried away, leaving him to stumble home, clinging to the memory of her lukewarm flesh as the fever set in.

~(December 2007)