She sat in the kitchen and looked over to the empty sink. Finally, empty and clean. She got occasional urges to clean, every now and then. She looked at the lit, long, narrow hallway. She stared at her laundry basket with a few wet clothes that she had not been able to hang. She could hear her roommates talking as she listened to Emma Shapplin and her fantastic opera voice. How was she going to finish cramming for her morning exam in the few hours she had left of the night? She continued sitting at the coffee table, papers and books surrounding her. She was tired, jaded, nostalgic for feelings of comfort. She would be celebrating her 22nd in two days and she couldn’t bring herself to care. So what, she thought. Manhattan seemed so far away, even as she breathed the city air and took the subway everyday. Then why did she still long for it? She decided she wasn’t sure the thing she wanted existed, at least not how she saw it.
She decided to go back to studying. Outside, the winds blew and the city remained lit and awake.