Inclusion one

She stares at his body
The line of his back
Shoulder
The back of his head
The amount of blood on the carpet is a measure of time
Pooling from beneath his side

Tries to stand
Tense muscles
Draw
But it fades
Settle back into the sofa
Darkness
With light bleeding from the city outside
From open doors
Windows with open blinds
Shapes in the gloom
And the shape of the man
The varying shades of monochrome
Darkened liquid that catches light on the irregular surface of the carpet
A quiet cough and small shake of the body
Some deception of the ear, as if she can hear the blood
Otherwise he remains still
Tries again
Hand out to the arm of the sofa
Steadied
She pulls herself upright
Stands
Closes her eyes
Hold
And bend at the knees
Shift one foot and lift the heel
She kneels down
Rubs one hand slowly and firmly across her shin
Inhale through the nose
Open eyes
Exhale
Blink
Slowly straighten
A miniscule internal push and the bodyweight moves forward
Slowly
Until it’s time to move the first foot
She steps over the man
Walks to the bathroom
Pushes the open door wide
Bare feet on cool tile
Darker than the apartment
Ambiguous shapes
Stop
Raise hand
Emptiness
Move
Then the wall
Fingers on painted plaster
The sound of quiet scraping
Fingertips bump against raised plastic
Crawl across to the switch
Snap
Burning white
Eyes closed
Snap
Inhale
Pause
Snap
Illumination through the eyelids
Raises her other hand to her face
Darkening
Opens her eyes
Through her fingers she sees the bathroom
Pause
Snap
Exhale
Retinal burn
Shifting weight
Feet brushing against the tile
She turns
Raises her hands
Unbuttons her jeans
Then palms to hips
Fingertips beneath the material of her underwear
The coldness of the plastic against her thighs is sharp
Eyes close
Her breathing remains uninterrupted
The sound of liquid striking porcelain
And the sound of her breathing
Afterwash of retinal burn
She blinks slowly
Unable to discern the difference between having her eyes open and closed
Drops into the water, and then nothing
Reaches to her side with one hand
Empty space
With the other
The dry touch of tissue
Application of force until the tearing sound
Reaching beneath her body and touching herself through the tissue
A sensation divorced from skin against skin
Reach down
Hands clasping material
She draws her jeans up slowly as she stands
Slowly works the buttons into place
Turns around and lowers the cover
Lifts her arm to the cistern and touches the button
Stops
Blinks
The darkness takes shape, one shadow at a time
Straightens
Turns to where she remembers the door
Extends one arm
The other remains pressed to her skin above the hip-bone
Slowly she moves forward
Swinging her arm in slow arcs
The side of her hand taps against the door
Moves her fingers along it to the edge
Applies force
Closes the door
Turns again
Arm extended
Returns to the toilet
Depresses the button
Cacophony erupts in the room
Her hearing attaches to the sound
She remains standing still
Arm extended and hovering over the cistern
As it begins to die, she straightens
Moves her hand to her collarbone
The sound shifts in texture and pitch
A long and drawn out clatter that softens to a murmur
Growing slowly quiet
Eventually stillness returns
Blink
The shapes inert in the room
She twists at the hip
Lifts the other foot
Turns
Opens the door
Moves into the living-space
Looks down at the shape of the man
Surrounded by the damp pool about his head and torso
Opens her mouth
Stops
Pause
Closes it

She turns away to the external door
Lifts a hand to the latch
Open
The hallway lit by dim wall-lamps
Turns to the side and moves
Feet brushing against the hard floor
Tiny reverberations of her movements
She walks past closed doors
Approaching the end there is a door ajar
Then fading from silence as she approaches, the sound of muffled television
Emanating from the apartment next-door
Stops
Listens
Incomprehensible and muffled
The baritone of sporadic speech
She moves to the door to the next apartment
Hand on the latch
Opens
Apartment lit by blue-glow
The voices sound out uninhibited
The tone of the glow changes
Paler
Then dark
Then blue
She walks into the apartment
Looks about the living-space
No-one
Approaches the television
Brightness turning to glare
Reaches up to the top of the frame
Moves her hand along the surface
She feels dust accumulating on her fingers
Then texture
And a raised button
Depress
Darkness
Silence
Retracts her arm
Inhale
Retinal burn
Blink
Pause
Blink again
Waits
The light slowly bleeds back from the edges of the windows
Turns back towards the door
Exits
Closes the door behind her
She returns to the first door
Opens
Enters
A lamp is on in the corner of the living-space
She walks in and looks about her
Moves towards the rooms
Opens a door
Darkness
Moves a hand to the wall and finds the light
Snap
Brightness
Shapes and boxes
Snap
Moves to the next door left open
Snap
Nothing
Pause
Snap
Moves to the next door
Snap
Brightness
A bedroom
Before retinal burn sets in, she sees a lamp
Snap
Shifts weight
Slowly moves through the room with the immediate memory burned in light
A knee bumps against the bed
Moves along its edge
Reaches forward in the darkness
Fingertips collide with giving fabric
Touching and lifting
Finding its shape
The body of the lamp
Then moving across it
The jutting shape of function
Snap
Close eyes
Straighten
Turn around
Open eyes
Look about the room
Ruffles of some few articles of clothing on the floor against the wall
A bag
Then the wardrobe
She moves
Opens the doors
In the dimness examines the clothing within