I folded myself into a cup to hold in those feelings. They seeped through, forming dark patches on the outside. So I unfurled myself and started again. Eight times over I turned in on myself. Rigid and plain, I sat alone.
You glided close to me, an aeroplane from afar. Then you reformed into a fan and wafted a breeze over my closed-up form – an invitation. I peeled back one corner in consent. You moved me in magical ways. I became a swan.
We loosened our creases and crisscrossed together, becoming a lantern to shelter our glow.
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Stephanie Hutton is a writer and Clinical Psychologist in the UK who believes in the therapeutic value of short fiction. In 2017, she was nominated for Best of the Net and was shortlisted for the Bath Short Story Award and Bristol Prize.
Lead image: “Help Japan Brighton University Peace Cranes” (via Flickr user Dominic Alves)