As Twilight Falls

One girl stands alone against the bleak brick mansion.  Her eyes stare somewhere above the horizon, a glassy yellow-green, watching through the fading daylight.  Her hands hang limply by her side.  She stands with her back leaning against the rough bricks, one foot up on the wall behind her.  Slowly she reaches behind and clasps her arm behind her back, begins swaying gently, still staring in front of her.  She swallows and blinks, moves her foot higher up on the wall behind her, and resumes her slow, methodical swaying.  Her chin falls toward her chest and she lifts it again.  She holds her shoulders and neck tense.  Her thin, soft lips do not smile, and neither do they frown.  She stops swaying and holds herself still, flinches slightly for a brief moment before lowering her foot and sliding down to the ground, her back always against the wall.  She hugs her knees to her chest and wraps her arms tightly around them, every movement slow and gentle.  She sits there, still and silent, always silent.  She does not move, nor does she drop her distant, empty gaze.  The sky slowly and silently becomes a gentle amber color, casting a soft glow onto her thin, soft cheeks, delicate nose, and tanned shoulders.  She is more still and more silent than the empty sky itself until finally the sun sinks below the horizon and the sky turns a gray-black.  She takes a deep, shuddering breath and finally lowers her eyes, staring down at her arms, hardly visible in the gloomy darkness.  Her eyes gently close and she lays her forehead against her gathered knees, still gripping them tightly to her chest.  She is still for a moment, and then she shivers, a tiny, sudden movement.  She shivers again and finally, ever so slowly, she unwraps her arms and hoists herself up.  She holds onto the wall with one hand, softly bracing herself.  She walks along, running her hand on the rough wall.  Her features are invisible in the consuming dark; only her silhouette can be seen.  She makes her way listlessly to the door and slowly drops her hand onto the cold, brass doorknob.  She opens the door and walks in, still staring into nothingness.  She swallows, shudders once more, and softly closes the door.