You're gonna catch a cold, from the ice inside your soul...

Carefully, very carefully, I step out into the rain. I have no coat, I have no umbrella. The water seeps into my collar. I keep my head down, but for some reason my mascara has run. Angrily, I brush it away with the back of my hand, tarnishing the sleeve of your cream jumper with a long, ugly, jagged black line. Peeking through wet strands of hair my eyes remain vacant and glassy.

The angel asked her what her name was,
She said; "I have none."
Then he asked; "How can this be?"
"My father never gave me one."

I make out the blurry outline of a tall, dark figure. One arm is outstretched, holding a paper cup towards me. I hover, inch forward then take a step back, undecided. My eyes scan the ring around my feet. A circle made of chalk. I put my hands up and outwards. The walls of the ring push back, restraining me. I walk around it like a caged animal, restless and agitated.

Every time I close my eyes,
It's like a dark paradise...

I begin to notice another figure standing to my left. Hands in pockets, slowly walking towards me and my ring. I feel a smile spread its way across my face. Tentatively, I touch it with the tips of my fingers. I like it. My smile widens as the figure draws nearer.

But you fit me better than my favourite sweater, and I know
That love is mean, and love hurts,
But I still remember the day we met in December, oh baby...

As his boots beat the ground, I start to make out a soft tinkling. Strange. My eyes refocus, curiosity kindled. His pockets have holes in them. His hands are in his pockets and they have holes in them. Little shiny objects are slowly falling to the ground from the holes in his pockets. I lean forward to see what they are and instandly recoil, hitting the wall of my ring and falling to the ground. He has holes in his pockets where his hands are and they're spilling glass hearts. Glass hearts falling and shattering to the ground. The crunch of them disintegrating under his boots penetrates the walls of my protective shell and reverberates in amplified splendour. I lift my hands to my face to wipe the smile off. I do not like it anymore. Frantically I pace my precious enclosure, occasionally putting my palms up to assure myself that the walls are still there.

I will love you til the end of time,
I would wait a million years,
Promise you'll remember that you're mine,
Baby can you see through the tears?

"It's getting cold." The dark figure holds the cup out to me. He takes a few steps forward.

Shatter. Splinter. Split. Smash. Break. Fall. Crash. Collide. Crack. Clatter. But no, they can't enter.

I want more chalk. I want more chalk. Make the circle smaller, thicker, deeper.

Cold. Crash. Cold. Smash.

A glass heart shatters to the ground almost at my feet. Involuntarily I take a step back and smudge the chalk. I go dizzy. My little safe cirle, my warm protective ring is broken. It is broken.

Cold. Broken. Cold. Crash.

Blurring across my vision, another figure slowly steps forward. A little stooped, with his arms outstretched. I look at the broken line then back at his face. He is alright. He knows how to make it better.

Cold. Crash. Cold. Smash.

Lurching forward I leave my precious circle and run to him. He wraps one arm around my back and the other around my head, covering my ears. He presses my face into his chest so I can't see. He holds me very tight but it is not unpleasant. Soon my erratic breathing steadies, and I know that the voices, the shattering hearts, the rain, the ring and the blurry figures have gone. Loosening his hold, we look at eachother. My Immortal. I know you cannot stay, and I must go. You are not mine, and I am not yours, but we are both forever. We are always, and ever, forever.

As you begin to fade, I turn away from you and run. Soon the rain is falling again. Seeping into my collar, staining my cheeks black.

You're gonna catch a cold, from the ice inside your soul...

A trail of shattered dreams and glass hearts between my lips and yours...