The Gravity of Us

Graham Russell and the narrator are opposites. She runs on feeling, dreams freely and cries easily. He is apathetic, lives inside his nightmares and has no tears to shed. Neither of them seems built for the other.

Still, they share brief moments. Their eyes meet and each glimpses the other's secrets. A kiss carries her fears to him, and she takes in his pain. In those seconds, both picture what loving each other might be like.

The story is a romance told in the first person by the woman, in a reflective, emotional voice. It is built around the pull between two people who are guarded in different ways: he keeps his heart frozen, and she is ready to run.

Those moments lift them, but reality hits hard and gravity pulls them back down. Neither knows how to love. She looks back and says she would fall with him again, even if the landing is certain to hurt.