The glass was already gone.

I stood in the snow.

My hands were empty.

The cold bit.

It bit deep.

I looked down.

My fingers were bare.

No ring.

No gold.

Just skin.

And blood.

A thin red line.

It ran.

It ran down my wrist.

It ran into the white.

I was a detective.

Not of crime.

Of loss.

I sought the why.

I sought the how.

I failed.

The wind screamed.

It tore at my coat.

The coat was thin.

It was old.

The wool had frayed.

The buttons were loose.

One hung by a thread.

It dangled.

It swung.

It mocked me.

I had been a good man.

Or so I thought.

I had the badge.

I had the file.

I had the case.

It was a simple case.

A missing woman.

Eleanor Fairchild.

She had vanished.

From her home.

In the city.

I found her.

I found her body.

It was in the river.

The water was black.

The water was cold.

The water kept secrets.

I pulled her out.

I held her.

I held her tight.

She was light.

She was heavy.

She was gone.

I had the compass.

A golden compass.

It was hers.

It was a gift.

From her father.

A trinket.

A keepsake.

I wore it.

I wore it on my chest.

It sat over my heart.

It was warm.

It was gold.

It was hers.

I needed it.

I needed proof.

I needed truth.

The police were wrong.

They said accident.

They said slip.

They said fall.

They closed the file.

They locked the door.

They looked away.

I did not look away.

I kept the compass.

I wore the ring.

I wore the ring on my finger.

It was tight.

It was cold.

It was gold.

I walked.

I walked north.

Into the wilderness.

The trees were tall.

The trees were dead.

The branches were black.

The sky was gray.

The snow was deep.

It reached my knees.

I walked on.

My legs were heavy.

My heart was heavy.

The compass was heavy.

It pulled.

It pulled me down.

It pulled me in.

I stopped.

I sat.

I sat in the snow.

The cold seeped in.

It seeped into my bones.

It seeped into my mind.

I thought of her.

I thought of her face.

I thought of her smile.

I thought of her voice.

She said stay.

She said go.

I did not listen.

I was a detective.

I followed the trail.

I followed the trail to the edge.

The edge of the world.

The edge of my sanity.

I looked at the ring.

The gold was dull.

It was dirty.

It was stained.

I tried to wipe it.

My breath was fog.

My hands were numb.

I could not feel.

I could not think.

I could only breathe.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

The wind howled.

It sang a song.

A song of endings.

A song of loss.

I realized then.

The truth.

The terrible truth.

I was not the detective.

I was the suspect.

I was the thief.

I stole her.

I stole her time.

I stole her life.

I stole her peace.

The compass was a lie.

The ring was a chain.

I was the jailer.

I was the key.

And I had lost the key.

No.

I had broken the key.

The glass was gone.

The ring was gone.

I looked at my hand.

The skin was pale.

The skin was cold.

The blood had dried.

It was dark.

It was red.

It was mine.

I was the crime scene.

I was the evidence.

I was the verdict.

Guilty.

Always guilty.

The snow fell.

It covered me.

It covered the ground.

It covered the past.

It covered the truth.

It was white.

It was clean.

It was blank.

A new page.

I stood up.

My legs shook.

I looked at the horizon.

The horizon was gone.

The sky met the earth.

There was no line.

There was no end.

I walked.

I walked into the white.

I walked into the dark.

I walked into the void.

The cold was a friend.

The cold was a lover.

The cold was a god.

It took me.

It took my breath.

It took my heart.

It took my soul.

I did not fight.

I did not run.

I did not scream.

I accepted.

I accepted the cold.

I accepted the end.

I accepted the silence.

The silence was loud.

The silence was full.

The silence was complete.

I was alone.

I was free.

I was nothing.

The snow swallowed me.

The snow took me.

The snow was my grave.

The snow was my shroud.

The snow was my peace.

I closed my eyes.

I saw her.

I saw her smile.

I saw her light.

I saw her gold.

The gold was bright.

The gold was pure.

The gold was gone.

It was not mine.

It was never mine.

It was hers.

I let it go.

I let her go.

I let myself go.

The compass spun.

It spun in my hand.

It spun in the air.

It spun in the wind.

It lost its north.

It lost its way.

It lost its meaning.

It was just metal.

It was just glass.

It was just weight.

I dropped it.

It fell.

It hit the ice.

It cracked.

It shattered.

It broke.

The glass flew.

The glass scattered.

The glass disappeared.

The gold remained.

The gold was dull.

The gold was dark.

The gold was cold.

I stepped on it.

I crushed it.

I broke it.

I destroyed it.

I destroyed the proof.

I destroyed the lie.

I destroyed the chain.

I was free.

I was alone.

I was dead.

The snow kept falling.

The snow kept falling.

The snow kept falling.

It covered the glass.

It covered the gold.

It covered the blood.

It covered the man.

It covered the story.

It covered the end.

The end was here.

The end was now.

The end was me.

I am the snow.

I am the cold.

I am the silence.

I am the white.

I am the nothing.

I am the everything.

I am the end.

The wind stopped.

The wind was gone.

The world was still.

The world was quiet.

The world was dead.

I was alive.

I was dead.

I was both.

I was neither.

I was the space between.

I was the breath between.

I was the moment between.

The moment of choice.

The moment of release.

The moment of truth.

I chose.

I chose to stop.

I chose to let go.

I chose to die.

I chose to live.

I chose to be.

I chose to be nothing.

I chose to be everything.

I chose to be her.

I chose to be the snow.

I chose to be the end.

The end was kind.

The end was gentle.

The end was cold.

The end was warm.

The end was home.

I was home.

I was gone.

I was here.

I was there.

I was everywhere.

I was nowhere.

I was the silence.

The silence sang.

The silence spoke.

The silence told the truth.

The truth was simple.

The truth was hard.

The truth was free.

I was free.

I was free.

I was free.

The snow fell.

The snow fell.

The snow fell.

It fell on me.

It fell on the world.

It fell on the past.

It fell on the future.

It fell on the present.

It fell on the now.

The now was all.

The now was enough.

The now was everything.

I was enough.

I was everything.

I was nothing.

The nothing was full.

The full was empty.

The empty was complete.

The complete was done.

The done was finished.

The finished was ended.

The ended was over.

The over was past.

The past was gone.

The gone was lost.

The lost was found.

The found was kept.

The kept was held.

The held was loved.

The loved was let go.

The let go was released.

The released was free.

The free was wild.

The wild was broken.

The broken was mended.

The mended was whole.

The whole was one.

The one was all.

The all was nothing.

The nothing was me.

I was the snow.

I was the cold.

I was the silence.

I was the end.

The end was here.

The end was now.

The end was me.

The compass was broken.

The glass was gone.

The gold was dust.

The ring was gone.

The finger was bare.

The blood was dry.

The heart was still.

The mind was clear.

The soul was free.

The body was dead.

The spirit was alive.

The alive was gone.

The gone was here.

The here was nowhere.

The nowhere was everywhere.

The everywhere was one.

The one was me.

I was the end.

I was the beginning.

I was the middle.

I was the truth.

I was the lie.

I was the fact.

I was the fiction.

I was the dream.

I was the waking.

I was the sleep.

I was the death.

I was the life.

I was the breath.

I was the silence.

I was the sound.

I was the noise.

I was the quiet.

I was the storm.

I was the calm.

I was the wind.

I was the snow.

I was the ice.

I was the fire.

I was the water.

I was the earth.

I was the sky.

I was the star.

I was the moon.

I was the sun.

I was the light.

I was the dark.

I was the shadow.

I was the form.

I was the substance.

I was the void.

I was the all.

I was the nothing.

I was the something.

I was the me.

The me was gone.

The gone was here.

The here was now.

The now was end.

The end was start.

The start was end.

The end was start.

The start was end.

The loop was closed.

The circle was complete.

The wheel had turned.

The wheel had stopped.

The wheel was still.

The still was motion.

The motion was still.

The still was motion.

The motion was still.

The still was me.

The me was still.

The still was end.

The end was me.

I was the end.

I was the silence.

The silence was me.

The me was the silence.

The silence was the end.

The end was the silence.

The silence was the peace.

The peace was the rest.

The rest was the sleep.

The sleep was the dream.

The dream was the truth.

The truth was the lie.

The lie was the truth.

The truth was the fact.

The fact was the life.

The life was the death.

The death was the life.

The life was the breath.

The breath was the life.

The life was the death.

The death was the end.

The end was the beginning.

The beginning was the end.

The end was the beginning.

The beginning was the end.

The end was the beginning.

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