"Can I at least hug you?"
The question crawled from her throat in a scratchy and pitiful way.
For a split second I realized she was starting to cry.
"If you want, sure"
She wrapped her little arms around me and I left mine at my side. We had had a final farewell hug more than once before this one.
I was always distraught. My world was collapsing. This time when she pulled the rug from under my feet, my world really did collapse. I cried like a child taking his first confused breath, at the top of my lungs and so full of fear and confusion.
  I cried and hurt so much that when this hug finally came, I had hardened over. I couldn't be soft for her anymore She had broken that.
    Her arms dropped from my side and she stepped back, looked at me, silently.
    "Anything else?" I asked.
    "...I don't think so"
    "OK well best of luck in everything you do, see ya around."
And then I turned, walked away, got in my car and drove down the street. I didn't look back at her gate. I drove home, cried some more and probably drank, because I don't remember.
    This is a form of farewell too. You've thrown me aside and its not fair to myself to still have you as a subconscious muse. This will be the last time I write about you in a long long time. If you happen to see this, know that there was nothing I wanted more than for that embrace to last an eternity.
    So there it is, so long, see ya around.