that way danielle closed the door to the bedroom i do not think i had ever seen a bedroom door closed before we sat across from each other with the single bed between us on the bed the board snakes and ladders rolling dice laughing and playing sometimes danielle would go quiet staring at me if a pretended not to notice and continued with the game careful not to look directly this staring would last some time otherwise she would come back to the laughter like out of a trance i once noticed her hand shaking as it reached for the tumbler and collected up the dice a double six knocking over her piece on the board a trembling hand brought the piece back in play struggling to recuperate the dice danielle let out a tiny yelp as my hand brushed her arm in a motion to drop the dice into the tumbler cupped within her hand once more out spilled a double six in order to avoid repetition i went to move her piece on her behalf and at the instant where our hands met over the piece a short static shock immediately her hand shot back disappearing on the other side of the bed i looked over to danielle to apologise but i was stopped by her eyes looking straight back into my own her mouth fell a little open and i could hear her breathing she slumped forward her face fell into the bed covers and muffled a whimper
