My problem this nano is tenses. I intended to write in both past and present tense, but as I'm writing it's getting all jumbled up.

Hovering at 9,576.

"Women would put rocks in their pockets in those days. It was the fashionable way to take your own life." She's never told this story and she's surprised to find it so difficult. "I felt hopeless. Lost.

"I didn't want my life to change and I couldn't disappoint the people around me. Either I married the stranger chosen for me or I died. These were the choices I had. I took the one I could make with my own power."

Severine fell into another bout of quiet. "There was a young woman waiting by the river bank. She had honey blonde hair, warm eyes. Otherwise she was relatively unremarkable." She paused to smile as Reese realized who she was talking about.

"Claudine?" It was the only interjection Reese would make.

She nodded. "I didn't know her at the time. I didn't realize it until recently. She's been interceding in my life a good deal." Severine allowed herself another private smile, a moment to relish what might have been her last day. "She convinced me to stave off death and wait until my talent emerged.