Re: The Widow/The Nothing
They weren't in a hurry. They had nowhere to be, but they knew they didn't belong here. There was an understanding that this was a halfway point, a stop that wasn't theirs on a train that was not theirs to ride. But it was all good and no big deal, and the world would put them back where they belonged soon. Right? They were counting on it. They didn't want to be stuck in some midpoint knowing that what they wanted was back there somewhere. They knew that. They didn't feel it precisely, but they knew it.
But they were nothing. No doubt about that. As they sat across from the woman they tried to reach inside themselves and find whatever was missing, but it stayed stubbornly missing despite all manner of mental acrobatics. They were caught up in that when she talked, and they really didn't know how long they'd been sitting their in a kind of companionable silence.
"Hi," they said, their voice as devoid of everything as the rest of them. They didn't sound male or female. They were stuck in some place of indecision, but they knew the indecision wasn't of their own chosen. That was all they knew. "We're not moving. We're stuck here. I'm stuck here, at least. Are you stuck too? Or were you actually trying to get someplace?" They didn't sound inquisitive. Inquisitive would have been too much like something.