"Leave me alone," he thought as the water crawled across the top...

"Leave me alone," he thought as the water crawled across the top of his back. He could still feel the fingers on the soft underside of his chest, the weightless way he saw the world the very first time. It was when his eyes readjusted to the murky darkness, the truth spread swiftly through his mind: he had been alone so long, he forgot how to be held. He missed the attention, the light on his skin; he missed someone, somewhere, believing that he was beautiful. "Come back…stay," he thought as the final ripples smoothed.

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