where's my love? — lena.

Things go back to normal.

(Read: Lena continues reading, continues sitting her mother’s closet and touching clothes that still smell of her mother’s perfume. Read: Atticus bedecks his elder daughter in gifts, and spends all his waking hours worrying about how he’s possibly going to keep her safe. Read: Lena eats peaches in the fading afternoon light and they still taste like sunshine.)

Things don’t really go back to normal.

(Read: Lena wakes up in a cold sweat for a year straight, an image of milky skin turned sour, purple shadows beneath tired eyes. Read: Atticus gifts his daughter the Tower of Babel and teaches her that she is a saint, that she needs to be protected, that a caged bird is a safe bird. Read: Lena doesn’t ever want to touch silk again.)

Things go back to normal.