As promised:

The woman sat alone in the room. The fading light had given way to a murky darkness the color of the river flowing past. How long had she sat here humming a distant melody? Some broken words that fit the haunting notes from her dry lips. She wore a woolen coat. Not so much for warmth but for protection. It protected her from the knowledge that someday she would have to leave this room. Perhaps when the pale light flooded the gray-cloaked sky. Perhaps when night had simply fallen over the light. For three days she had sat here. The light, the darkness. The glow, the fading. The murmur of the river that reminded her of life outside these walls of solace. The pain of choosing to experience. Choosing to accept. She was not yet there. Not yet able to beckon the pain back into her numbed mind. Her stomach had stopped its yelps of hunger and crouched like a child within her. Waiting for release. Three of them waited with her on the first day. The sun high in the sky. Her hair fresh from washing. Her eyes bright with hope. Two waited on the second day. Her small hands clenched in her lap. None on this day--the third. She closed her eyes. Where had they gone? How long had she been alone? How long had she avoided the knowledge, the pain?