love is all there is...

Belithe let out a deep sigh, watching the traffic speed down the highway. The morning air was fresh and cool, but it would be a hot day, she knew. She sipped vodka and orange juice from an insulated coffee mug and tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for the bus. It was always late, it seemed.

Her mother had died earlier that year. The death had taken a toll on the family, and the damage seemed irreversible. Belithe only had her sister and her father left now, but they didn�t seem to care much about her. Her sister spent most of her time down on the boulevard, whoring and drinking. Belithe rarely saw her, and when she did, they never spoke to each other. Her father was a quiet man who spent his days in the library working, and the evenings curled up on the couch with a book and a case of diet coke. He was diabetic and practically lived on diet coke.

Belithe�s now-deceased mother had been a plump, gray haired woman. She was kindly and loud and obnoxious. It was often said that she wore the pants in the family. Belithe missed her like crazy. But, she knew, wishing for her mother would not bring her mother back.

The old, yellow bus creaked to a halt five feet from Belithe. She hitched up her pants and took the stairs in one leap. She kept her eyes on the floor as she made her way to the back of the bus.

On the bus, Belithe sat alone. She had no friends and liked it that way. She preferred to be alone.

Tucking her cup inside her backpack, Belithe settled back into her seat for the long ride. It took nearly an hour to get to school.

She stared out the window, watching the countryside float by. She thought about the last time she had seen her sister. The girl had looked like death walking. Her sister had always had some problem or another, and now it seemed that she was lost forever. She would miss her sister.

Frost covered the hills and puffs of white air followed every car. Belithe glanced at her watch. Forty five minutes and she would be there, at school. School... with the wicked children and their perfect lives, filled with undeserved happiness. A wretched place where everyone laughed but her. School� a daily reminder of her failures and shortcomings. Odd that she should love such a place so wholly.

Today was the day it would happen. She would not fall short this time, she knew. Fingering the coil in her backpack, Belithe felt relieved. It would be over soon. She dozed lightly for the remainder of the trip.

When the bus arrived at Belithe�s high school, she could hardly wait to get off of it. She despised the long ride here everyday.

Belithe opened the doors to halls ringing with the noise of happiness and rushing feet. The bell rang and students hurried here and there to class. Not Belithe. She had other business to attend to. For a moment she hesitated. Just a second, no longer. Abruptly, she turned and ran toward the end of the hall.

When she reached the end of the hall, Belithe peered around carefully, checking to see that she was alone. She reached into her jeans pocket and produced a key to the door that guarded the stairwell. The stairwell led to an empty warehouse type level above the school, which was sometimes used for storage. It was always locked, but Belithe had a key. She had bribed the janitor with her body for it. She hadn't paid him yet, but the promise was enough for now. And the debt wouldn�t matter soon enough.

Belithe entered the storage space. The ceiling was high here, with thick wooden beams crisscrossing it. It smelled of mildew and age. The dark was almost suffocating.

She removed the length of cord from her pack and set the empty bag on the floor, heedless of the thick dust there. She didn�t even bother to zip it up. Briefly she considered a note. But no, there was nothing left to say.

Belithe pulled an ancient, rusted ladder to the corner of the room and carefully made her way up it. The beam in that corner was in good condition, she was sure. She had spent hours here studying the beams to make sure. It would never do to have one break before...

She tied the rope around the beam, forming a noose, which she placed about her neck.

An ivory crow thrust its beak fervently at the window...

Tap... Tap... Tap...