The ray of sunlight shining through the dirty window fell onto her desk and time stood still. Motes of dust swirled in the light, creating kaleidoscopic patterns. Her fingers crept across the table top toward the beam of warmth, searching for the edge between the cool wood and heated-up parchment. She lifted her hands and fluttered them in the light, ruining the intricate patterns and scattering dust everywhere.The light shone on her skin, illuminating the delicate hairs on her arms and turning them into golden threads. She rotated her hands slowly, fascinated by how the intensity of the beam exaggerated the wrinkles and lines on her hands. Her lifeline loomed like a crevasse, running parallel to her heart line. Nose inches away from her palms, she examined the rifts in her skin. Her breath stirred the dust into a frenzy.

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