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Summer skies were unfretted by the meteor storms of winter. Nearly cloudless days stretching beyond darkening hours were far more pleasant than the bitter wind howling on a snow-filled night. Instead, softer breezes greeted those who opened their windows, allowing for a pleasant day. Those who slept shirtless awoke to the warm sun kissing their exposed nipples, while those who slept in clothes covered their faces just for a few more minutes of carefree sleep.
Throughout the day, bare feet danced upon cool, soft grass ─ incomparable to a dancer as most leaps and thrusts were ungraceful, but elegant none of the less. Similarly, naked bodies frolicked in transparent waters, astonishingly unfazed by stares and whispers. Their body was their own, who were those strangers to care? Bronzed, darkened, ghostly, and reddening skins alike were sweating beneath the sun. Fears were forgotten, minds were at peace.
Day, however, continued on; pausing for no soul. Without the protective light to guide the adventurous, no sun to guide to graceless dancers, back inside their homes people resigned. A rainbow of deepened reds and purples painted the darkening skies slowly. Unfamiliar noises sounded outside, but the pleasant feeling of hot water against bare, clean skin and soft bedsheets under tightly clutched fingers, silenced them.
As the sun continued to set, they could feel the void seep into their bones.