And then he's gone.

We spend a lifetime putting up walls. With every tremor, every earthquake, they grow taller, more impenetrable.

Experience teaches us to be careful of people and Trojan horses.

With time we come to depend on these walls, rely on their protection. Until one day a boy walks by, touches the stone. The walls come tumbling down.

And then... the boy that you become so accustomed to having around. The boy whose arms you fell asleep in every night. Is gone. He promises to return. You know he will. But it doesn't make walking into that empty house any more comfortable. It doesn't make falling asleep in that empty bed any easier.

Soon it's simply your own tears that comfort you as you cuddle the cold pillows and burrow under the covers.