the breakup
According to what you've just finished reading, you're under the impression they ended because she cheated on him, but that's not the full story.
During their dialogue in the guest room, Victoria told Clifford she had been going through some issues before their breakup, and those were issues he had previously told her to get help for.
Her issues weren't the drug abuse itself, but the trauma that led to her abusing drugs. Victoria lost her dad in her last year of university and because of that she grieved his loss. During her grief, Clifford tried to be there for her, but she pushed him away many times. He even went as far as suggesting she get professional help, but he couldn't get through to her.
Her drug abuse led to her wanting more of the drugs, but since drugs are expensive she had to find ways to fund her use. Her dealer suggested other ways to pay him and those ways included sexual gratification.
Since Clifford is observant, he noticed things get worse. She started seeing him less and would lie about her whereabouts. He started believing that something was very wrong.
The day their relationship ended, he had been talking to his friend, Joseph, about it. Victoria, yet again, was nowhere to be found on that day, so Joseph suggested he track her iPhone if he had access to it. He indeed had access since he and she had previously shared their important log-in information. That's how he tracked her to the trap house, where he found her cheating.
the night of the storm
The story of the present is very clear since the story of the past had been revealed, except for why she was running. After Victoria told him she was running from men who were after her, he asked her if she knew them. His assumption wasn't wrong however, based on how they ended. He just believed she continued to surround herself with bad people. It's still pretty unclear who she was running from, but since Clifford found the tiny ziplock of cocaine where she had been sitting, he assumed that on her way back home from getting it she ran into men who wanted to harm her.
We also pick up that she tried to emotionally manipulate him into thinking he was wrong for ending things because he promised to marry her. She believed because he made a promise to her, they were supposed to fix things and start all over again.
However, they were way too broken to be fixed.
the theme of "hourglass"
In the present, Victoria is water and Clifford is fire. In the context of this story Clifford is the inferno (a wildfire), on the inside he has this large fire of anger from the hurt Victoria had caused him, but he masks it very well. Victoria on the other hand is the storm (violent rain) - she brings chaos wherever she goes.
The symbolism is also shown when Victoria is running in the rain at the beginning of the story while looking for shelter. Clifford offers her warmth by giving her a blanket and later suggesting a heat source in the guest room.
Clifford and Victoria have always been opposites of each other. It worked in their favour in the beginning, but not so much in the end.
Just like fire and water, the two elements are mutually destructive. "Water will extinguish a flame, just as fire will boil water to nothing".
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Hourglass
Short StoryOn a stormy night, Clifford gets an unwanted guest and is faced with the woman from his past, his ex-girlfriend, Victoria. He is taken aback by her presence, but decides to assist her once he finds out that she's in danger. During the time that she...
