His hand

Hovered

He held his hand

Upon her waist

As if to say

“You are my possession now"

Quivering

His hand

Eager to hold the handle

Of her hip

Eager to handle

Hovering

This hand

Betrayed his sheepish smile

Betrayed his calculated advances

A lame, smirking sheep

“Hush now"

His words

Like smoked honey

Dribbled from his mouth

And quietly pressed upon her will

His eyes

Sparkling

Believing themselves the eyes of a wolf

Hidden within clever wool

Mirai smiled

sheepishly, too

Forcing a blush

Her eyes

Scintillating

As if containing the moon itself

Shrouding

The eyes of a fox

Plastered over

Unimpressed

And indifferent

"Shall we then?"

Her words

Like sugar

Rushed into his lungs

Into his blood

Overpowering his crumbling will

Her waist

Handled

His hand

Who this man was

What this man wanted

Mattered not

She would be taking from him

She would be taking from him

Because life was unkind

Because every night

Her stomach growled

Because all humans did

Was take

But most of all

Because Nozomi.

⋮

The man lies with Mirai.

⋮

A lone sheep wakes

In the dead of night

Cold beads of sweat

On a pale and sunken face

A pit in its stomach

As if missing something it once had

But unable to place it

Shivering

The sheep tries to forget

What it cannot remember

And returns to

Its uneasy slumber.