On the Mountain

by Riley Hart

“I’ve been…obsessed with you from the start,” Crow said as I knelt in front of the one of me from when I’d sprained my ankle. “This is what you do? When you come out here? Paint me?” “I painted other things before I met you…nothing but you since.” My heart… I couldn’t put into words what it did. The truth was, I didn’t have a heart anymore. Not one that belonged to me. I had given mine to Crow. It was his, in his possession, and always would be. “Do I really look like this? Am I really this beautiful to you?” I heard Crow move behind me, until he was right next to me. “I keep painting because they never turn out as beautiful as you are.” I didn’t know what was happening to me. One moment I was fine, the next tears spilled down my cheeks, loud sobs pulling from my throat. Crow sat beside me, pulled me into his arms, tugged me to his lap and held me, hands touching me everywhere, like he was trying to make sure I was okay. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I thought—” “You didn’t hurt me. You…you’re healing me.”