All attempts to flee through the surrounding forest fail. Life resets every morning—her red-rimmed eyes cracking open in the tent beside the lake, dawn glinting off the ring of steely mountains.
Desperation withers to resignation.
Resignation fades to acceptance.
When the trail reappears one afternoon, she stops short. A flicker of yearning dissolves into a wary shiver and she retreats into the refuge of the cirque.