His possessions are too few to even fill the tattered green duffel bag, now sitting by the door frame staring back at him. Its holes piercing his skin, like anxious eyes begging to "hit the road."
Jenny's eyes on the other-hand, swell with tears. She sits slumped against Leonard's porthole to freedom, praying silently he won't go.
Silence fills the room with thick, barely breathable air, while Leonard's less-than-erect posture reflects just how torn he is over his two most-prized possessions. His love for Jenny, and his wings. Jenny ... seems to have lost her wings.
While his visceral throttle continues to rev, Leonard's body remains motionless as he reflects back six months earlier when he and Jenny met at Burning Man. A cultural event held in the hot Nevada desert. Being free spirited individuals, they both went unaccompanied to what is basically considered a social experiment.
His memory takes him back to day three of the six day event. He envisions his shirtless stroll through the crowd of "creative pioneers" and how the glow of daylight's flame glistening from Jenny's long, golden blond hair caught his attention as he passed her.
Leonard remembers how his interest was peaked even further as he turned his head to inspect what had sparkled in his peripheral vision. A memory he chooses to shake off as he fears its potential to clip his wings.
Reuniting with the here-and-now, he turns his head to take one last mental picture of the woman he loves.
"Well, I must be traveling on now." Leonard mumbles, breaking the silence.
They both slowly stand in synchronized unison and the all-too-present tension intensifies.
"Leonard PLEAAA ... "
"Are you sure you won't come with me Jenny? There's too many places I still must see. WE still must see."
Jenny sighs and repositions her back against the front door, sliding down it into a squat. She shakes her head, burying her face into the palms of her hands. Leonard clears his throat, choking back his own tears.
He takes a seat on the edge of the sofa and fights his urge to cry by mentally returning to the Burning Man. He just doesn't know what to say and the earlier silence is reinforced.
He sees Jenny walking in all her glory. Her bare European complexion revealed from head to toe. He thought; "her body must have been sculpted by Michelangelo himself."
Leonard knew that nudity at the Burning Man was an open invitation for somatic connection. He smirks as he pictures himself making the u-turn to go after this vision of loveliness. In his mind he can see his hand reaching up to tap her on the shoulder. Never thinking for a moment he'd fall in love.
His remembrance is interrupted as Jenny speaks with a quiver in her voice, thinking she can influence him to postpone his abandonment of her.
"If you leave here tomorrow." She says, "Will you still remember me?"
"If I stay here with you girl, well things just couldn't be the same." Leonard stares at the floor and continues, knowing good and well he didn't answer her question. He quickly speaks again, hoping she wouldn't realize his absurd answer.
"You'd resent me for wanting to leave and I'd resent you because I stayed."
Jenny can only sob as she grabs Leonard's hand with a desperate grip. She is so grief stricken she doesn't even realize she has just removed herself as a blockade from from the front door, until Leonard puts his hands upon her shoulders. He pulls her trembling body into his. Attempting to comfort her with an embrace.
Unfooled by the passionate caress, she knows it means goodbye and feels a sudden sense of contentment over the exhaustive need to make him stay.
"Jenny." He whispers in her ear.
"I'm as free as a bird now, and this bird you cannot change. I've always been a free bird Jenny."
She tightens her squeeze as Leonard releases his. She knows she cannot and should not try to stop him. She knows she can't change him. She takes a deep breath, prepared to let him fly.
"Leonard." Jenny whispers in return.
"It's the bird in you that I fell in love with. Fly if you must."
"Jenny.." Leonard tries to speak but Jenny, suddenly knowing just what to say, puts her forefinger tenderly upon his lips.
"Shhhhhhhh." She breathes.
"Soar my Raven if you are so compelled to scour. But it is essential that I waive my own wings ... and make a home for our own nestling."