She squints in the light.
It isn’t the first time she has been outside; nor will it be the last, but the sunlight is still stunning to her. The brightness of it all made her cry out, upon first stepping outside, and shield her eyes. It is beautiful.
“What do you think?”
The coarse voice brings her back to reality. She cranes her neck to look behind her. He is there, looking at her hopefully, grinning shyly.
“It’s...it’s...”
“Are you glad I brought you out here? Are you happy?”
“Oh, yes...I mean, I am very glad you brought me out here. Thank you.”
He looks embarrassed, pleased, proud. “You’re welcome,” he says shyly.
There is a silence between them. Her eyes hungrily gaze at her surroundings; they like the light. Nearby a squirrel scrambles up a tree. “That’s a squirrel,” she says, without even realizing she has said it out loud.
Immediately after the words leave her tongue, she regrets them. Damn! She has made a terrible mistake.
She can feel his mood grow cold. Angry. Hurt. When he speaks, his voice is harsh.
“You know what a squirrel is? How the hell do you know that? Have you been outside without me? Have you? Answer me, damnit, answer me!"
He grabs the back of her neck and roughly turns her around, his face right in her face. His breath is hot and foul, his black eyes are staring into hers. “Answer me!” he hisses, his voice rising. “Answer me! How do you know?”
“I...I remember,” she gasps, trying to hold her breath so that she won’t have to breathe in his. “I remember...from before. Please let me go! You’re hurting me!”
His grip on her loosens slightly. “Oh...oh...” He says, looking down at the ground, dropping his hold her her entirely. “Oh...” Tears begin to fill his eyes. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I yelled at you. I was bad. Can you forgive me?”
“Oh, yes,” she says quickly, trying not to cry, herself. “Yes, yes, of course I’ll forgive you.”
He looks up at her bashfully, a shy smile on her face. “Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she says. "Love" is a funny word, she thinks. She does not feel romantically towards him anymore, as she used to; all the kisses, caresses, powerful bursts of affection, passionate feelings, they are all gone. But he needs her, he could not live without her, it is obvious and evident when he cries like this. He would be nothing without her, and for this reason, she will never leave him.
She vows to herself to not mention any recognition or remembrance of things in the outside world again.
There is silence again. The only sound is the birds chirping, him emitting an occasional grunt, and the scuffling and shifting of his feet in the dirt. He is getting bored, she can sense it, and when he gets bored he gets angry. And he must not get angry again today. Bad things happen when he is angry. She glances down at the long, pinkish scar on her arm and shudders in remembrance.
"Are you almost ready to go back inside?" he says gruffly, disturbing the serene silence.
She takes a deep breath of the fresh, sweet air, savoring its taste and smell. Her eyes scan the valley below: its lush, green, plants and grass, the wispy white clouds, the peaceful, rich blue sky. No, she is not ready to go inside, not at all, but she merely says, "Yes, darling, I'm ready."
And they go inside.
