Edge of the Cliff
by Atonia
Chapter 4
“Mommy, aren’t you gonna get out of the car?” Linley asked. She was strangely calm after the harrowing drive with her mother from Kenmare to the Dingle peninsula.
Jimmy put down his guitar and walked to the back door. Light from his open door spilled out and touched the hood of Celine’s car.
Celine was shaking so hard she couldn’t let go of the steering wheel
Linley opened her door and got out carrying Bear. She went to Jimmy and stood close to him. “Mommy and I left Seamus.”
“Did you now? Why don’t you go on inside and let me see to your mother.”
“Okay, I think she’s gonna be sick or something.”
“Go on inside. I’ll take care of your mother, Linley.”
Jimmy walked around to her door and opened it. “Celine?” He pried her hands off the steering wheel and pulled her from the car. She grabbed him around the neck and he held her swaying from side to side a little. “You’re all right now, I’ve got you, Celine, let it go.”
“I…was so afraid…afraid he was following….”
Jimmy looked down the long road to his cottage. There were no headlights headed his way. “Did he hurt you?”
“No…no, oh, Jimmy.” She buried her face in his shoulder and began to weep.
He let her cry for a bit. “We’re goin’ in now. Do you want Linley to see you like this?”
“No,” she began sniffing and wiping her face.
“Go straight to the loo.” He came in the back door and turned her toward the bathroom.
“You haven’t put the kettle on?”
Linley’s eyes widened. “Was I s’posed to?”
“Oh, yeah, you always put the kettle on when there’s trouble. A cup of tea and a little talkin’ and trouble moves on down the road and leaves you alone.”
“I think trouble hasn’t got here yet.”
“What makes you think it’s comin’?”
“Seamus is gonna find us.”
“I don’t think so, little bit.” He turned the gas burner on under the kettle.
“Even if he does find this place, there isn’t anything he can do. He can make a lot of noise but he can’t make you go back. Unless you want to.”
“I don’t want to. I wanna stay with you.”
He reached over and mussed her hair a little. “You’re a good girl, Linley. You’re brave and strong and that’s what your mum needs right now. Two of ya sniveling and cryin’ is too much for me to handle.”
“I don’t cry... ever. Mommy doesn’t cry much either and I don’t think she snivels.” She frowned over the new word.
Jimmy smiled and poured hot water over the tea bags. “I’ll check on your mommy.”
He opened the door to the bathroom. She sat on the toilet seat with a wet cloth to her face. He squatted down and pulled her hands away from her face. “Hey…now don’t you look at me and cry.”
She was trying but her lip quivered and her eyes filled again.
“I made some tea and your Linley needs to see you’re all right. Come on, breathe, there you go.” He stood up and pulled her up from the seat and kissed her softly on the forehead.
Linley watched her mother closely to see if she was going to snivel.
Jimmy set a jug of milk on the table and a bowl of sugar.
“Oh…I need this.” Celine picked up her tea mug. “Okay, Linley?”
“I’m okay, Mommy.”
“Does he have any idea where you might be?”
“No, I don’t think so. He does know I go to Dingle…so…it’s only a matter of time, Jimmy.”
“Well, then we’d better think of something else. I don’t want him around here.”
“I don’t blame you.”
“It’s not because of me that you left him but he won’t see it that way if you’re found here.”
They looked at each other, neither of them sure that statement was true. He looked away and stirred his tea.
“We left him because he drinks too much beer,” Linley offered.
“A lot o’men drink beer and that’s all right but you can’t let it get the best of ya. Ya gotta know when to quit and leave it on the table. You can stay here tonight and we’ll see tomorrow…we’ll see.”
Later on she put Linley to bed in Jimmy’s bedroom. He only had one with a bed and he gave it to them. He said he’d sleep on the couch.
“What happened tonight to bring it on, Celine?”
“He went out and found himself a car to drive back and forth to Cork…so I could keep my car and my job. That kind of set things going and I finally told him it couldn’t be fixed. He went off then accusing me of having someone else, making threats on him. I just…snapped. I know I sound like the worst sort of woman. He’s trying now, got himself a job and a ride and claims things are going to get better. It’s too late…I’ve seen him now…what he’s like when things get tough. That’s not someone I can respect and if I can’t respect him then I can’t love him.”
“We are not all warriors, Celine.” He looked away from her and into the fire. It was beginning to smoke and he got up and poked it a little. “I’m no Sir Galahad.”
“I never asked you to be. I did ask Seamus to be more than he was. I didn’t know what was beneath his armor until he took it off. I don’t mean to drag you into this. We’ll leave tomorrow.”
“I’m already knee deep into it with you.”
“I’ll only bring you trouble.”
“I should of though o’that when I asked you to bandage my hands. It’s too late now.”
“What you said about you not being a reason to leave him. That was only a half truth. If I hadn’t met you I might not know there was anything else. You are a good and decent man. You live simply here and …write. I think that is the most special thing. This is a good cottage. It’s a good place to be.”
“It is that. It’s an honest place where you don’t have to pretend to be anything except what you are inside. Sometimes that conflicts with what’s really on the outside. I believe you to be real, Celine. I do not judge you for your unfortunate marriage…or the leaving of it. You’re not happy with him, he is not the man you thought he was or else he isn’t what you need. I am not that man either. I think we both know that and yet we keep trying to put something together with paper and glue. I’m just a stopping place on the road.”
“How can you say that? One minute you’re in too deep and the other I’m a tourist at your castle.”
“A bit of both don’t you think?”
“I know I think about you a lot. You’ve been so kind and generous with me. We’ve been intimate.”
“Is that what you think anchors you here?”
“No, no I’m not that…I’m sure it meant nothing to you.”
“Ah, now you’re fishing. It meant two people who needed each other…needed comforting and physical contact would answer. I don’t regret it, do you?”
“No, I don’t.”
“It wasn’t a declaration of undying love…you’re sophisticated enough to know that. Some things just happen.”
“Why can’t I love you?”
“I am not worthy.”
“Says who?”
“I say it and I know me better than you do.”
You also said this was an honest place…a place where you don’t pretend to be something you’re not.”
“That’s not exactly how I put it but…go on.”
“I’m nothing special. I was an unwed mother in a foreign country. I knew no one except Linley’s father. He disappeared the day she was born. I knew he’d go…still-
“But then I met Seamus. When I married him it was just ordinary. It got us out of the rooming house and into a proper house. I could pretend I was a wife and mother like all the rest of them in the super markets and the shops. It made me respectable with my little girl.”
“Why were you pretending?”
“Because I didn’t want to be that person. I wouldn’t give up my daughter for anything but the whole marriage-kid thing weighed me down like a rock. Seamus was good to me and I think I did love him. I might have loved him more if we were somewhere else, living a different life. I can’t stand the way we live. I want to be somewhere where there are restaurants and libraries and parks and theaters to go to. Somewhere conversations revolve around something besides the price of chops in the meat market.”
“You want the city life. Did you ever tell him?”
“No, he’s the only O’Malley left out of his family. The rest of them are in the church graveyard. He goes to Mass every Sunday and prays for them. He’s born and raised in Kenmare and doesn’t know anything else.”
“Well, you said he’s about to go to Cork.”
“So?”
“Nothing…”
“He’s got a job there.”
“Umm. You could go to Cork and see how different you can make your life or you set out on your own with Linley. You’ll have to find a place to live and I can help you with that. I have a flat in Dublin that sits empty. You’re welcome to it.”
“Dublin?”
“There’s your city life.”
“I’d have to find work.”
“Yeah, you would and somebody to look after your daughter.”
“That would be a problem because I don’t know anybody there. I don’t leave her with just anybody. But…what an opportunity that would be for us.”
“Something to think about.”
Seamus sat in the old car he’d bought for hours before he got out and went into the house. He’d meant to follow her and now he didn’t know why he hadn’t. Why was he so afraid of her? God, what else could she have done to him after telling him she didn’t love him anymore? He’d been hurt and angry and he’d run her off with his threats of bravado.
He slumped down at the table in total defeat. She’d left him…taken the girl and…left. He wiped his eyes for the fiftieth time. Finally he stumbled off to bed and rolled around for awhile unable to sleep. Staring at the dark ceiling he began to think. There was more to be said.
If she had another feller well…so be it. But if there was the slightest chance…he’d be a fool not to take it. He got up and began going through the desk in the front room. They used to have a computer in there before the times got bad and they’d had to sell it. She was working for Distributors then. He found her route folder and went through it. Dingle…Dingle…Dingle. Only two stops there but now she had more…so she said. He pulled one of her sheets and decided to spend the next day trying to find her.
He showered and dressed, gave his hair a brush and looked at himself in the mirror. “Who are you, you dumb bastard?”
He was in Dingle before the shops opened. He walked up the sidewalks with his hands in his pockets and found a place for a cup of tea and a roll. He kept thinking what would he say if he saw her? What could he say that he hadn’t said already? Would she even talk to him? His mind and stomach were in turmoil. He left the café and walked past the chemist shop where she would stop in. It hadn’t occurred to him that she might not be working today.
As the clock ticked on and businesses opened their doors traffic picked up on the main street. He moved his car near the chemist shop so he could watch the door. It was 11:45 before he saw her walking toward the door. She looked so attractive to him, even if he didn’t know her; she’d be worth having a look. His hand rested on the door handle but he couldn’t open it. He was frozen inside his car. Frozen inside of himself. Twenty minutes later she came out and walked down the street. He was about to get out of the car, door open and moving, when she stopped. She’d gone to her car. He waited until she pulled out and he started his motor to follow her. His hands sweaty on the steering wheel and mouth dry he tried to stay far enough back she couldn’t spot the car. It would stand out with its odd green door.
She made two more stops and he’d had to find a place to park each time. The last stop was a little market and she came out with plastic bags. Buying food…for who? Where did she go the night before? He was beginning to wish he hadn’t come. He was afraid of what he might discover about her. As long as he didn’t see it…it couldn’t be true.
He began to hang way back when she headed out of town. Traffic was sparse. She kept a steady speed going toward the end of the peninsula. She turned off the main road onto an unpaved road. He passed it by and went to turn around and his car died. He tried starting it…damn battery was flat. Riley said he needed a new one. Too late now. He hit the steering wheel and leaned his head back on the seat. There were no other cars on the road. He got out and looked past his car and it appeared the road ended not far from him. He slammed the door and walked around in a circle a few times and then set off walking toward the unpaved road. Whatever lay at the end of it…he’d just have to face it.
Celine had been thinking all morning as she made her rounds. Thinking about going to Dublin. The idea appealed to her and frightened her at the same time. It would be different if Jimmy was going with her but he’d made it plain enough. He’d made a lot of things plain. He would help her on her way but he wasn’t a stopping place. That stung a little. She’d never been one to cling, always independent and strong but right now she wanted to cling to him and be comforted. She wanted him to love her more than he did. You couldn’t make someone love you enough to…to what? Where was Seamus? Would he come looking for her or would he be down at the pub? She figured him for the pub.
Pulling out of the market she headed back to the cottage. She’d decided Seamus wasn’t coming. She had to make a decision about what to do. She tried to imagine herself in Dublin and couldn’t. She couldn’t see herself looking for work in an unfamiliar city…and there was Linley to care for and find a school for. No…no, Dublin wouldn’t work for her…not with Linley. There might be rooms in Dingle, she could afford a room. Oh…oh what a mess! She wiped her eyes and turned into the drive out to the cottage.
What did she really want to do? Wild thoughts of leaving Ireland and maybe going to England or Norway…anywhere. She could…if she had the funds. Nothing to keep her there. She had to be sensible…it was to late to run away. She wasn’t a kid anymore…nearly thirty with a seven year old daughter. What happened to all those years when she should have been running?
Jimmy took Linley down to the castle ruins. He told her a little about the people who once lived there but her own imagination took over. She was a princess. He sat back and watched her and listened to her talk to her imaginary court. He felt sorry for her in a way. She had no say in what was happening to her mother and her stepfather. Celine hadn’t spared her.
“You’re my knight.”
“Who…me?” Jimmy pointed to his chest.
“Yes, and you have to do what I say.” Linley took him by the hand and led him to a slit in a wall. “You have to shoot the bad guys.”
“The bad guys okay. How many are there?”
“Um, twenty…no…I think a hundred.”
“Whoa, I don’t have that many arrows.”
“Well, you’ll have to not miss.”
“Right,” he grinned and drew his imaginary bow.
He didn’t mind the play. Kids needed to play and this is where he’d learned how it was done. His parents were old; they were always old and didn’t know what to do with a young growing boy. They thought he should read and go to church. Especially church. He discovered something there when he was nine years old, something that shouldn’t have been there. He couldn’t tell his father or his mother. It was too embarrassing. It made him sick…so sick he couldn’t go back. He’d never told anyone about it but he hadn’t forgotten it. To this day he became nauseated when he saw a priest.
Sept was his refuge and the world he opened up didn’t contain painful and embarrassing things. There was innocence in play. He dutifully shot the bad guys as instructed by his princess.
The cottage was empty when Celine returned. She put away the shopping and put the kettle on the burner. Jimmy’s Rover was still in the drive and she thought they were out and about somewhere. He was so good with her. All the patience in the world and certainly more than she possessed.
She sat down with her tea. Decisions had to be made. Linley already missed a day of school.
Something Jimmy said the night before came into her mind. “Go to Cork-“Had he meant for her to go back to Seamus? That wasn’t an option. It wasn’t…”make your life different.” That’s what he had said. It was going to be different all right. She wished she’d picked up a newspaper to check out the estate agents listings. With this week’s pay she’d have…not enough for a flat.
It was three miles from the road to the cottage. Seamus was used to walking but his feet felt like lead. One in front of the other he kept trudging on. When the cottage came into sight he stopped. It was all open land, no trees or hedgerows where one might stop and catch his breath and drum up a little courage. As he neared he saw her blue car and another. He’d be there…his imaginary adversary was about to become real. And what would he be? He had to be something, didn’t he? Something special…some ripped athlete or movie star looking bloke. Or maybe not…what made him think he was anything but a dumb bastard. Probably anybody would look better. Probably rich, yeah, nice looking ride. He had computers to spare.
Celine rinsed out her teacup and caught a movement out in the yard. Jimmy and Linley. She smiled and put the cup in the drainer and went to open the door.
“Seamus!”
“Ah, Celine.”
They stared at each other for a moment. She looked around him. “How did you get here?”
“Well, I walked from the road. The old clunker died on me. We need to talk a bit. Can we…do you think?”
“I…I don’t know what we have to say.” She held onto the door.
“I don’t know either but I think…we gotta talk this out. I didna come out here to wreck your bloke.”
She felt her lower lip begin to tremble. This wouldn’t do. She turned back to the kitchen for a moment. Taking her jacket off the back of a chair she came outside.
“Around…this way.” She led him to the front of the cottage. The land sloped down to the cliff overlooking the sea. There was an old bench fashioned from a tree log and that’s where she led him to sit.
He was glad to sit down. They sat in silence for a bit and the fact that she’d even agreed to talk to him gave him a little hope.
“I’m sorry for the things I said last night. That was all hurt feelings talkin’. I had to see ya and tell ya that…I love you, Celine. There ain’t never been anybody but you for me. I’ve let you down. I…it’s hard to believe that that was me. You know I like a pint but never so much as what I’ve had. I been wallowing in self pity. Me…the only college graduate in the family. I had it made…good job, good pay and a beautiful wife. It all started slippin’ away and I didn’t know how to stop it. I felt so bad and I couldn’t talk to you about it. You were angry and every right to be.”
“You had it all is what you’re saying and then you lost it. I never had it all. I was never happy living the life we led. I’ll never go back living that way again. I’m just…not meant for village life. There has to be more to it than what we had going. I’ve been angry for a long time…not just since you lost your job.”
“I don’t know what more you want?”
“No, you wouldn’t. You don’t know anything else. You’ve lived your life in a little box and you think you can put me in that little box and everybody’s happy. It’s not true.”
“What can I do? I’ll do it…anything. You don’t want a box then…then we’ll get out of it. We can move to Cork and do…different.”
“You’d just make another box because that’s all you know.”
“Well then, teach me something different. You’re right I don’t know…I don’t know about boxes and life outside of boxes. I don’t know what the bleedin’ hell you’re talking about.”
“You never did know…you never knew me. You never knew me.”
He blinked. “I know some things. I know how soft and gentle you are. I know all the little sounds you make when you’re sleepin’. I know how you feel in my hands. Have I never satisfied you in bed?”
“Yes, I don’t fault you there. You’re good in bed. You are, Seamus.”
“Well, what are ya doin’ over here in some other blokes bed then?”
“I’m not…in his bed. It’s not all about beds.”
“Ah, no, it’s about boxes.”
“You see, there’s no use talking to you. You’ll never understand. All you know is your own little world. You’ve never been anywhere else or lived any other way.”
“You know a better way to live then let’s do it. I said I’d do anything and I mean it.” He looked around and then back at her. “What have you done with Linley?”
“I haven’t done anything with her. She’s with Jimmy.”
“Jimmy who?”
“I actually don’t know his last name. I wasn’t important. He’s a friend. I’m allowed to have friends.”
Seamus gave her a long look and looked out toward the sea. “You can do as you please. For somebody that don’t like village life you sure picked a remote place to stay.”
“I’m not staying here…it’s only a…stopping place for now. I don’t know where I’m going yet. Maybe to Dublin.”
“What do you hope to find there, is he goin’ with you?”
“No, no he isn’t. I may not go there. I haven’t made up my mind.”
“You don’t know what you’re doin’ do ya? Well, you’re outta the box now.”
“Yes, I’m out of the box.”
Jimmy and Linley arrived back at the cottage. She went in to wash the mud off her hands. He noticed Celine was back and went inside to find her. He heard the voices out front and looked out of the window. They were sitting on the log bench not touching and both looking ahead. Linley moved in front of him.
“That’s Seamus, oh no, he found us.”
“Not to worry, your mother is talking to him.”
“He was going to hurt you.” She looked up at him with terror in her eyes.
“Nobody is going to hurt me. I promise you that, Linley. We’ll leave them alone to have a chat. You want a cheese sambo? You must be hungry.”
“Will you make it?”
“Sure I will.”
He made her sandwich and walked back to the front room. Celine was up now. She’d walked away from him. He thought Seamus looked totally whipped. He opened the front door and walked out.
Seamus turned and stood up. They both stood there without speaking…sizing each other up.
“I’m Seamus O’Malley.”
“Jimmy Desmond.”
“Desmond…James Desmond, the writer?”
“Guilty.”
“Ah, well…no wonder.”
Jimmy walked over. “Mind if I sit with you a bit?”
“I dunno…your bench.”
“Sit down.” Jimmy sat and looked up at him. “I know what you’re thinking, man. She has no idea who I am.”
Seamus sat down slowly and looked at him. “You’re the one…you’re the one that’s broke up my house and home.”
“If you want to blame me for it, go ahead. If it makes you feel better to have someone to point the finger at.”
“She’s been comin’ here to you.”
“She’s been here a few times. She’s using my computer.”
“Yeah…yeah, I’ll bet she has.”
“How did you get here?”
“Me car broke down. I walked in.”
“Are we going to talk or do want to beat the shite outta me?”
“I’d really like to wipe the ground with ya but it wouldn’t win me any points here.”
“Smart man. What’s going on with you and Celine?”
“You gotta ask? I’m sure she’s told you what an arsehole I am. What more do ya want?”
“Do you love her?”
“Fekkin’ right I do. She’s my whole world, ya know? I tried to tell her just now and she’s talking about boxes…bloody boxes. Like I put her in a box or somethin’.”
“Did you? Think about it.” Jimmy rose and walked part of the way down toward the cliff.
Seamus sat there for a moment…boxes…he still didn’t know what they were talking about. He shook his head slightly and got up and followed Jimmy.
“I know I’m thick and I doubt you have any intention of helpin’ me out. But what the fuck is a box?”
“A wife box. In your town…the wife box. Wives go here and do this or they go there and do that. All of them…in your town. You meet with your mates and call her ‘the wife’. Everybody else has got one too…’the wife.’ Did you ever think of her as Celine? She wants something different, a different life that includes restaurants and parks and theaters. Can you give her that? Can you take her out on a Friday night…somewhere besides the pub? Treat her like a woman instead of ‘the wife’.
“She said you’ve got a job in Cork. That’s good…there’s your chance to change things.”
“Wife box…she don’t want to come to Cork with me. You’ve got her all juiced up for something else.”
“Not me. I’m not the one, Seamus.”
“Wha…there’s another?”
“No, you dumb shite, there’s you. Wake up.”
“Are they gonna fight?” Linley leaned on the window sill.
“I don’t know I doubt it. There s nothing to fight over. Come away from the window.”
Linley picked up her bear and sat on the couch. “Mommy, what are we going to do about Seamus?”
“I don’t know…I don’t know.” She couldn’t sit down. Pacing back and forth she kept looking out the window. She wished Jimmy hadn’t gone out there…no telling what Seamus might do. He’d walked all the way down the road…to find her. He hadn’t been in the pub. She wished she knew what they were saying.
“Yes, I do care about her but I’m not someone that she can love. She’s a free spirit, Seamus; you can’t cage that and expect it to thrive. Maybe you can’t fix it…maybe you can start over and make a new beginning.
“You haven’t said one word about Linley. Is she a part of your life or not? Is she just Celine’s daughter?”
“She’s just a little girl. I do for her….probably not enough. There hasn’t been money to do anything with.”
“I’m not talking about money. You seem to think everything depends on it. Talking is free…giving a little of yourself is free. That’s where you bollixed it all up. You measured yourself as a man by how much money you had or didn’t have in your pocket.”
Seamus ran a hand over his face and looked back toward the cottage. “That’s easy for you to say. You never had a day in your life you had to worry about money…how you were gonna pay the rent.”
“There are worse things in life than being poor.”
“I’m supposed to start this new job training tomorrow. How can I do that with Celine…here? I can’t think without her.”
“I can’t help you.”
“She’s outta the box. Free…free to do as she pleases. I reckon you please her.” Seamus started back up the hill.
“You give up awfully easy for a man who can’t think without her. A man who claims she’s his whole life.” Jimmy called after him.
Seamus stopped for a moment and then continued on.
“You won’t even fight for her. Just lie down and let her walk over you and on out the door. Have you checked your balls lately?”
Enough. Seamus turned around and ran back down the hill and hit him. “I shoulda done that when I first saw ya.”
Jimmy staggered but didn’t go down. He rubbed his jaw and then half heartedly swung at Seamus. Seamus hit him again and he went down this time and smartly stayed down.
“You…you leave Celine alone…and stay out of my fekkin’ business.”
Celine came out of the door, “Jimmy!”
Seamus grabbed her arms. “He’s all right…he got what was coming to him. Get your things together, we’re going home.”
“You’re crazy, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You’re wrong, Celine. Me and you…we got the world to conquer.”
“Wha…what?”
“We’re moving to Cork. You and Linley and me we’re moving house. You gotta find us a place downtown so we can get out and walk around to places. Tomorrow…tomorrow you start looking while I’m in training. It won’t hurt Linley to miss another day of school. When things get right again we’ll start taking little trips to places we haven’t been and that should be easy for me. You gotta show me how it’s done cause I want to go there with you.” He reached out for Linley who’d come out of the door and ran to her mother.
“Linley, we’re gonna be all right. Me and you, kid, we got a whole new city to learn. You’ll probably have to get us a map so we don’t get lost.” He looked at Celine. “We need a map.”
Celine’s eyes overflowed. She couldn’t speak.
“I know we got stuff to clean up between us but it ain’t gonna get mopped up if we don’t put a hand in. We been at it for too long, too much invested in us to throw it in the dust bin. Now then, do ya need a hand to pack up?”
She shook her head. “It’s all in the trunk. I never unpacked anything.”
“Bear, I gotta get Bear and my book bag.”
“You run in and get Bear,” Seamus said.
“Seamus, I’m sorry.”
“I don’t want to hear any sorry. Startin’ right now it’s all new.”
“New…starting out new…I like that.”
“Have you got any cables in your car to spark my battery?”
“No, but Jimmy might have.”
“I’ll ask him. You go on to the car…you and Linley.”
“Can’t I say good bye?”
“Wave at him. He’ll understand sign language.”
Jimmy was standing a little way down the slope with his hands on his hips waiting to see how it was going to play out. He waved to Celine. Dropping his head a little he walked up to the cottage.
“She’s goin home with me.”
“I expected that. She’s a special lady.”
“I know how special she is. Have ya got any jumper cables?”
“I think so. Flat battery?”
“Yeah, I gotta get one.”
“I’ll give you a lift back to your car.”
“How’s your face?”
“Want me to cry?”
Seamus grinned.
Jimmy got his car going and waved good bye. Back in the cottage it was quiet and empty. He picked up his guitar and played for a bit and then put it down and sat down at his computer. Soon the room wasn’t empty any longer. He filled it with people, people with real emotions, hurts and loves. People you see on the street every day and pass them by never knowing what goes on inside their skins.
He paused and looked out of his window. The sun was setting; drowning in a sea of fire beyond the edge of the cliff.
End