No one's home

She runs upstairs

One

Two

Three

Red drops on the counter

Gone in an hour

Four

Five

Six

Tears on her cheek

Dried in a week

Seven

Eight

Nine

Words on her essay

Forgotten by next Wednesday

Ten days til it happens

Eleven times he tells her to hasten

Twelve steps up the stairs

Thirteen splatters on her chair

Fourteen seconds he cannot breathe

Fifteen tears roll down his cheek.

-MathKangaroo