She couldn’t wait to sneak inside
where everything was cool. But
soon enough she recognized
that none of it was real
and there was almost nothing
there for her to eat.

And so she wasted precious days
of her allotted twenty-eight
banging herself repeatedly against
the cold, hard promises of light.

The hand pursued her
a dozen times a day 
until finally she lay
exhausted on the sill.

The hand slowly pushed up 
the window and the real world
revived her with its warm, moist
breath. She jumped back into it.

She will, no doubt, forget all this
and fall for the air conditioning
a few more times in her short life.