Love's Abyss

A balancing act 20 stories up - 1920 - photograph by George Rinhart

‘Why are you so afraid to fall?’ She says to me, teetering on the edge of the bar, balancing precariously on the balls of her feet. I grasp around for an answer but I can’t think straight. My throat feels like sandpaper. I swallow as sliced slithers of saliva trickle down my gullet.