Do it. There’s no one else here. What are you afraid of, Jeanette?
They stood by a statue of Callister Thorne, the town’s founding father. It was clear and bright. A beautiful day.
Jeanette was in tears.
Look around you Jeanette. It’s just you and me, and Mr. Thorne there.
Jeremy could be so sweet sometimes. It came in waves, like a warm gray sea.
Looks like an emperor. Aquiline nose, full-lipped. Handsome. He looks like Caligula. Don't you think so, Jeanette?
Jeremy wrote poems. Beautiful poems. Jeanette would put her head in his lap. He would read his poems, and stroke her hair.
Do it. Do it Jeanette. There's no one else here.
He was quiet and calm. Like the eye of a storm. Jeremy spoke the way lavender smelled.
History hasn’t been kind to the emperor. But it’s mostly unfair, what’s s been written about him.
On Halloween, they went to a party. The tiger costume she picked out was cute. It was fleece, it was warm.
They say he was cruel. But cruelty…it’s like beauty, isn't it.
Jeremy picked out another costume. A harem girl outfit. Gauzy and sheer.
And what we behold, is what we become.
When she reached for her coat, he poured a bucket of ice down her back.
Look around Jeanette. We’re all alone. It’s just you and me. And Caligula here.
He was mannered, polite.
Deeper, Jeanette.
Jeremy wrote poems about beauty and fear.
Jeanette felt her knees sinking into the earth. A beautiful day. It was bright, it was clear.
It broke like the waves of a warm gray sea.