In walked Kat, followed by Lexi. They’d come straight from practice and were in their cheerleader uniforms, both still a little sweaty.Kat grinned a... Sara. “Hi, teach,” she said, closing the door with a flourish. “You know Lexi, right?”Sara nodded.“We’d like to hang out here for awhile. Maybe you could get us something to eat? And some lemonade or something, practice was tough today.” Sara found herself reflexively obeying; she had turned toward the kitchen and taken a step when Kat stopped. We finished the eight-mile loop and did our cool down at the trailhead. Robert came up to me again and said he hoped he’d see me next week, I nodded, assuring him he would, and thanking him for his pacing. My neighbor (Philip) asked if I wanted to grab something to drink, so we stopped on the way back to the condos. I found out what he did, that he was single but “kind of” seeing someone, and his running. As we were talking, I mentioned that I was looking to improve my 10K time but also wanted. I blinked and in the short space of time between my eyes closing and opening again, my rock had vanished. Dan had completely disappeared. I gasped and reached out into the space where Dan had been. There was nobody there. The bed was still warm from the heat of his body, but the body itself had vanished. I cried out and started groping around, as if my hands might discover something my eyes told me wasn’t there.Arms snaked around me from behind.“Hush! Bec, it’s okay,” whispered Pearl into my. "How was your trip," he asked. "Any trouble crossing the Corridor?" No." I shook my head. "They didn't even stop the train this time." Good." He nodded at that news. "The Poles are preoccupied with Russia." Will there be war?" I wondered and that had been a favorite topic in Germany over the last few weeks."I don't think so," my grandfather said. "But there should be." I feel sick every time I pass through Danzig," I told him truthfully. "I saw a sign on a wall..." What did it say?" We are.