The Road From Here

My quiet stream of consciousness beneath all the talking.

Are you nervous? I am

I like your tie. Is it new?

I don't remember it.

Then a memory flooded my brain—

something about nails and scalp and sensations.

Sigh.

Afterward I thought to myself:

This sucks and never should have happened.

And then I wished you hadn't just disappeared.

But you did.

So tell me—

is this the road you want to take from here?

Because there are other choices.

Not easy ones.

But, possibly better.