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Orpheus has been walking for three days. He hasn't slept. The world around him is in a constant state of night and he doesn't know what time it is.
He's pretty sure that Eurydice is behind him. If they talk or touch or look at each other she'll be sent back to the underworld, so they communicate without doing any of those things.
Orpheus kicks a pebble behind him and hears the quiet reply, small rocks being kicked into the air.
He breathes slowly, feeling the dust in the air coat his lungs, but he doesn't need to cough.
He thinks about Eurydice.
Once they get back home, he'll publish his song and make enough money to pay off last month's rent. Then he'll save up for a repair for his guitar. And he'll buy Eurydice a proper ring.
...
Strange creatures run at the sides of the path, their grey fur making it hard to tell where rocks end and they begin.
He keeps his eyes fixed in front of him and he doesn't see what they really look like. Everything is focused into one point.
He hears Eurydice scream and he doesn't turn around. He knows it's a trick. His palms sweat and his ears ring, but he kicks a rock behind him and hears the identical reply.
...
Eurydice knows he'll take her home. He knew the way down and he seems to know the way back up. She thinks of the song he's writing, and his hands playing the guitar. She smiles to herself, seeing his head bobbing up and down in front of her.
She feels a little like a ghost down here. Nothing living can get out of the underworld. She hopes that's not true. They'll make it out of here. Orpheus will be one step in front of her for safety and they'll kiss as soon as they can.
..
The path takes them into a dark cave. The skeletons of an iron mine fill the place. Orpheus holds his lamp above his head and they continue in the circle of golden light. He can't hear his wife behind him, but he can see her in his mind. He can sense the wind in her hair and the dust on her shoes.
...
They're at the end of the mine. The path in front of them is flooded in daylight. He's never seen the surface world so brightly lit. He smiles when he sees their house and the bar beside it. There are steps to the exit.
He strides up the first four, imagining their life once they're out there. It won't be perfect but they won't be underground. He can see Eurydice smiling in his mind, the fine dirt of the underworld washing away.
He's thinking of her when he hears her trip and fall and cry out. He's thinking of her when he turns around, a reflexive movement.
She's gone in a second, but for the 100 milliseconds inbetween he sees her face.
Her eyes are wide and white, she looks surprised to see Orpheus facing her.
She isn't hurt. She's fine, and the dirt on her face reflects the lamplight a million times and makes her glow.
She realises that it's over, and her eyes relax.
She smiles at Orpheus for the last time. The sound of the blood in his ears is deafening.
...
He is in bed. The darkness beside him is like a window to another world. The shadow breathes in the night and he feels like he could reach out and touch its hair, and hear its heart beating like his wife.
He closes the window and goes to sleep.