Sarah Winman

as stars appeared as fragile as ice crystals

What’s got into you?

I’m stuck.

Still? she said.

All the things you were going to do

They sat there quietly, not talking about death, or the kiss, or how life was going to change

And sometimes, when the day loomed grey, I’d sit at my desk and remember the heat of that summer

How love is crucial to freedom

Massimo surfaced. There’s a world out there, Alys, he said. Of people like us. Get out of this country and find them.

Whilst swimming in those crystal waters, a seed has been planted: she will leave home in two years’ time. She will go to art school. Live in London. She will love again many times. And each time will be as exhilarating as the last, and each person will be the one because she will love deeply and be loved deeply back. Her smile is wide because she senses something is germinating.