At the end of the day, when the moon starts to rise, the darkness settles over my heart. The long lonely nights always come this way. You settle into your silent reverie, and my endless chatter comes to an abrupt halt so as not to break the deep concentration on your face.

I sit alone and watch you.

I am wishing you would speak to me. What is on your mind? I am praying you would grant me that brief glance into your heart. I am hoping to read your soul.

It is the long lonely nights that distance me the most. During the day it is easy to pretend that everything is okay. I can rush about with all the nothing I have to do to keep my mind occupied. I can forget all that I think of when I lie alone at night pretending to be asleep. I am content chatting with you about which routes we are to take, or telling you some silly tale to wile the hours away. I will do anything to coax that adoring smile out of you, even if it means breaking my neck in the process. It is so easy in the daytime.

But on those long lonely nights...

Sometimes I cry silently with the emptiness that wells inside of me.

Anything to end those long, lonely nights.

Sometimes, as I am staring out into the darkness, I hear you sobbing in your sleep. You still will not allow yourself the release your tears will bring, even as you are unconscious of them welling at all.

But you do not know what I have done in the morning. You wake me with difficulty and wonder why I am so reluctant to leave my dreams.

If only you knew of my long, lonely nights.

As evening closes in, and you settle in to your silent reverie once more, I lie on my bedroll close to yours and wait for you to retire beside me. When you drift off finally, I do not wait for your dreams to come. I wrap my arms around you and close my eyes.

These are perhaps my longest, loneliest nights.