"You gave it all away, asshole.  Everything we could 
have had, everything, lost to a stupid pipe dream."  She turned 
from him, took a deep drag from her cigarette.

	He shrugged.  "And every breath is one closer to your
last.  You gotta have dreams, you stop dreaming you die."

	She walked to him and kissed him on the mouth, hard, a
kiss that tasted of nicotine and spite, almost biting.  Before 
he could react she was gone, out of the apartment.  He came to 
the window, watched her shadow falling across the street.  He
watched for a long time.

				Kirk Israel, June 1994