Thank you to everyone for the valuable feedback. This is now as complete as I can make it. I have submitted this to the February Challenge Theme in the Writer's Forum. "Joyous sorrow" An eternity has passed since laughter filled the house. The only happiness that remains is in the inescapable passage of time. They wait for the respite that Death promised them. Pain has become a way of life with sorrow filling all that was once good. Darkness mirrors the blown fuses on the circuit board. No tears are there to greet his awakening. The cut is made. The serrated blade pierces her soft skin. At first, there is nothing. The blood starts flowing, and yet, silence. His eyes greet the vicissitudes of air with a silence that reverberates through the dark confines of the soul. The act is now complete. But to what end? Loneliness envelops him as the love they once shared. Now it is sadness that fills his every breath, threatening to consume him. The disjointed thoughts that drove them to this edge of insanity have become one. There is only one option left.