3 comments/ 20171 views/ 4 favorites In The Heat of The Day By: battleaxe_babe Sitting on the sofa, I arched my back against the cushioning trying to find relief from this forced immobility. Everything was immobile, there was no sign of life anywhere around the house, garden, road ... maybe not even region. The room was dimly lit, shutters closed but with a clear glowing line around the edges where the wood did not touch the wall. The door was open, more light coming from the opening, tracing the contour of the bed, embroidered white linens, the ever present crucifix witnessing every sin. There was a small cup abandoned on the table, it had contained some coffee, a caffè corretto actually, coffee with some anise flavored liqueur added. I could still feel the flavor on my lips, letting my tongue wander on my lips, the tip tracing lines on the red softness of female lips. I stood up to look out from the closed blinders, never too closed. An arid, sun drenched farmyard, not even the hens ventured in the sun any more, they were all clucking under an olive tree. Mount Etna on the back, standing like a young pointy breast, with a white snowy nipple on the top. I heard the shutters downstairs being touched and squeaking. My mother was awake. She was an old Sicilian woman living on her own, downstairs; she'd been a widow for as long as I had known her, short and pudgy, always wearing black mourning clothes. Sometimes I wondered how would she please herself, after being a widow for so many years. I thought ... would she still rub her hands between her thighs to reach a furious climax? Or maybe she had a toy to replace her lost husband. I felt a tingling between my legs thinking of mine. As a newlywed couple in the heat of south Italy our bed life was steamy, bubbly; I couldn't do anything but miss him when he was away. As a reaction, my nipples hardened, raising two tiny Mount Etnas on the front of my dress. As I stood, one of the straps fell from my shoulder uncovering a smooth breast, the slightly sweaty skin reacting to the cool air into the old house. My fingers circled around the naked nipple. It was impossible to go out in that heat; I could only stay in and wait, in the cool dark house, for the sun to go down and let people come back to life. I admired my pointy nipple in the shadows and let the other strap fall, together with my dress, which stopped its fall at my hips, my hands moved on the side of my breasts, cupping them all around and sliding to the sensual crack between them. 'The best place for one drop of perfume,' I thought; an old notion mothers used to pass along their virgin daughters the day before their wedding. Breathing my own scent, I walked a few steps to the bed, the dress dancing fluidly on my hips, falling a bit more at each step until touching the floor. I stretched my back on the bed, pushing my toes, enjoying the feeling of my body free from clothes and my back on the fresh linens, I never wore underwear at home, especially if I was waiting for him. There was something I could do in the wait though ... I rolled on one side and stretched my arms to reach the small drawer under the bedside table, our "treasure" was kept there. My hands reached in the semi-dark, recognizing objects by their surfaces on my fingertips. I pulled out three and the tube of lube. I could not hold a laugh at how these seemed something borrowed, something new, something old ... I lifted my knees taking them to my chest and showing my smooth pussy to the window. I let one drop of lube fall on the first, small, ball of a line of anal beads. It shined in the semi dark for a moment, just before I felt it pushing at my ass, sliding in with ease ... one ... two ... three balls in succession, sliding in easily until the fourth encountered some more resistance. Slid the whole line out, teasing the ring of muscles to take more, I was getting wet, my pussy was tingling and moisture forming inside my lips ... I slid the beads back in, biting my lip as the last one, bigger, was forced in. I loved the tension of my ass stretching to welcome the intruder. It would stretch to welcome much more soon ... I reached to get the rabbit; I loved how the tip resembled to the real cock. I licked it, running my tongue between the tip and the shaft, welcoming it in my mouth. At the same time my free hand wandered down to the line of beads in my ass, started sliding them in and out as I licked the plastic cock, feeling the tip on my tongue, the shaft slipping in my mouth. I could feel my pussy being so wet, a thrill ran down my spine as I pushed the right button and the ears of the bunny vibrated on my erect nipples. Pointing out, sweat breaking on my chest and a moan out of my mouth, I so wanted that shaft inside me. Wet, ready. My pussy was glistening with juices, the tip of the rabbit felt big being pushed inside. I applied more pressure without waiting to relax, feeling a mix of slight burning and pain spread to my body before it opened up to welcome the plastic cock. All my body shivered with the heat inside me, like flames that came out to cool on my skin ... I was full now, the bunny placed on my clit, the shaft deeply nestled into my pussy, plunging deep, touching the most intimate places yet never leaving my clit. The other hand reached down to replace the marbles in my ass with something bigger ... my husband's gift, a thick plug that gave me more than one orgasm, in his hands ... or mine. Rolling to kneel on all fours, I bent enough to reach with the plug to my ass. With one last pull all the beads left my ass feeling very empty, gaping. I pushed the plug in immediately, without applying extra lubricant. My ass was already buttered enough but I was also seeking some special pleasure, the pain and burning of a plug spreading my ass open. Oh the first time he surprised me with that plug ... my mind wandered back in time as the tip just touched my hole. He had pulled out that plug behind my back when I was tied to the bed and as now, touching my ass with the tip he announced there was a surprise for me. Just the memory of that flashing mix of pain and burning as he pushed the plug past my muscle ring extending my ass so wide was making me even wetter than I was already. Without thinking more over it I repeated the same action and pushed the plug against my ass, harder but slow, stretching my hole gradually but leaving no chance to fight the invader. So the same pain ran through my body as the wide part of the plug popped into my ass. Biting my lips and panting I was trying to calm my pussy, breathing hard to enjoy just one huge orgasm, the best, my favorite ... The odd feeling in my ass faded like a fog, quickly replaced by soreness and I rolled on my back, getting the rabbit on my pussy once more, plunging it deep. One hand on the plug pulled and twisted it, teasing each nerve of my body. Lube was mixing with my cunt juices, being spread all over with the rabbit, I was moving it so furiously in my cunt, feeling the plastic shaft hitting hard against the end of my cunt. It was like the room was suddenly alight; there was no cold or hot any more, just the heat inside me growing, ready to explode. With my knees drawn to my chest I spread even wider, so close to coming that shivers were running through my body. With one last plunge of the rabbit into my slick cunt, my body started shaking in pleasure. My eyes closed and my hands gripping to the toys, my body shook wildly in waves of pleasure, like electricity running from my toes all through my spine to my head. I arched my back like I was riding a wild horse. I struggled on the bed and let out a deep, loud moan carrying pure pleasure in my voice. "Yesss ..." my voice spent, fresh drops of sweat cooling on my skin, so young, so tensed and my chest raising so quickly. In The Heat Of The Day Nothing seemed to help mute the heat and humidity of the day. I decided that a cold shower just might do the trick. I climbed in and as I was standing there, I got lost in the sensation of the cold water as it took my breath away briefly, then flowed over my hot body. The water ran down my breasts and over my nipples, making them turn erect, which excited me. I rubbed my fingers over them, then tracing their outlines with my eyes closed, finally pulling and twisting them until they ached. My desire inflamed, I slowly moved my hands down over my belly and continued until I reached my clit. As I stroked my fingernails lightly over it, I felt the electricity rock me to the core. Knowing that He was on His way home I played with myself until I was aroused, but did not allow myself to cum. After toweling off slowly and sensuously, I found one of my short skirts that reached just below my firm ass. I didn't bother putting on panties as I knew that was the way He liked me. I selected a tight tank top and as I put it on, the fabric slid over my erect nipples, eliciting a giggle as I remembered my brief tryst with myself in the shower. I went into the kitchen and began doing the dishes. Almost as soon as I began, my heart skipped a beat as I heard His car pull up. I felt my pussy moisten in anticipation while I was working on the dishes. A minute later, He walked in the kitchen and smiled, surveying me with approval. I could almost hear what He was thinking as He stepped behind me, and I drew a sharp breath just before I felt the sensation of the slap of His hand on my ass. I knew that it would leave a hand print with blood red welts and I bit my lower lip with tears almost forming in the corners of my eyes. An almost imperceptible whimper quietly escaped my lips instead of the scream that my body wanted to let forth. I was startled as I felt the weight of His powerful body push me firmly against the counter, my ass sticking out against His engorged cock still in His pants. My upper torso was bent over the counter, my nipples in the tank top pushed over into a pan filled with water. I felt the warmth of His breath as He whispered menacingly in my ear, "Has my slut been a good girl today?" "Yes Sir," I replied, my voice quivering with the excitement of anticipation. Before the last breath of the second word left my lips, I felt the sting of His boots as He kicked my legs apart while still pinning me to the countertop. One of His hands lifted the back of my skirt, the cool air on my exposed ass exciting me beyond belief. Fingers - two of them, judging by the sensation - rubbed around my pussy, circling it but not quite touching it ... adding to my tortured frustration. I smiled to myself as without warning the fingers suddenly penetrated deep into my pussy. Audibly panting, I turned my head slightly to see him looking at me with a curious smile on His face. "My pet is wet, I see." The sensations and excitement brought on by His fingers digging deeply in by pussy threatened to put me over the edge as I let a moan escape my lips. He then slid His fingers out, disappointing me only for an instant before He brought them up and offered them to me. I held His fingers gently and respectfully as I savored the flavor of my own juices, licking them slowly clean and smiling devilishly. The sudden and unexpected yank of my head back preceded the realization that He was pulling my hair back sharply. "Now my little slut - make me proud," He intoned gently and I felt the pressure of the fingers now against my ass. He circled my asshole slowly and I shifted my ass around in order to force His fingers to drag over my asshole as they rubbed me. My excitement built to a fever pitch as the pleasure of having my asshole touched but not penetrated drove me nearly insane with lust. As I felt the tip of His cock touch my asshole, thoughts left and right fired into my consciousness. Was He going to take my ass? How much might it hurt?/ Will I bleed? Was I really ready for that? I don't think I'm ready. How did he get his cock out so quickly? I finally decided that I was SO ready for him to do me in the ass! I knew enough to relax, and I tried not to clench my ass tight, but as this was entirely new to me I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. My heart pounded in my chest rapidly as I released a long, deep breath from my mouth - I had almost forgotten to breathe. I felt the head of His cock enter my ass for the first time, a brief bit of pain allowing me the luxury of thinking that this was going to be easy. He told me, ''Relax, my pet,'' as I felt Him grab my hips. He roughly pulled me into him to violently meet His forceful thrust as He slammed His cock deeply into me. Tears filled my eyes as a searing pain tore through my asshole. When He pulled out quickly, any relief I felt was quickly counterbalanced by the next thrust going in. He slammed deeper into me and as I felt him throbbing inside me the pain excited me to levels I had never known. He was the first one to do this to me, the first cock in my virgin ass. Emotion, pleasure and desires replaced the searing pain, locking it in that special box in my mind each time He pulled out, the door opened anew and pain searing into my depths with each new penetration. Surprise replaced pain and pleasure for an instant as I realized the stark truth: I wanted him to fuck me harder still. Suddenly, His fingers were reaching around and rubbing my clit, awakening the temporarily dormant pleasure center there. He grabbed my hair with the other hand, my head pulled back at an unnatural angle as He battered me against the hard counter with each stroke. The wetness escaping my pussy was only eclipsed by the liquids running out of the partially overturned pan beneath my chest. My tits were soaked and whatever it was (tea, water - who knows?) was starting to soak the tank top under my tits which were painfully mashed against the top of the counter. Feeling the fingers inserted into my already excited and wet pussy, I was fighting all of the conflicting sensations - the pain in my tits, my ass, the electricity of Him rubbing my clit, the cool liquid now soaking my torso - but I knew that I dare not cum without permission. I turned my head and begged, "Sir, please may I cum?" He smiled at that thought that His girl needed to cum. As I felt the familiar orgasmic sensations beginning to build, I bit my lower lip so as to not cum, while simultaneously moving and grinding with the rhythm of His fingers as they plunged in and out of my pussy. He continued to enthusiastically fuck my ass as He brought me to a new level of bliss. I continued to plead with him, "Please let me cum ... I'm not sure I can hold back anymore. I need to cum, please Sir." He smiled lovingly and said, "You may cum, my pet." No sooner had the words escaped his lips than the desires overtook me and I let out a scream of pure pleasure as I came wildly with abandon. I knew that the excitement for Him was almost at a peak as well, and that was confirmed as He fucked me faster and faster and then went rigid, pinning me to the counter and exploding inside of me, filling my ass with His seed. He pulled out, turned me and kissed me on the lips. He laughed as I bit His bottom litp playfully, then picked up my quivering and sated form and carried me to the bed so that W/we might lay and cuddle in E/each others arms. In The Heat of the Day "My God, it's hot!" Darla looked at the thermometer on the back porch of the farmhouse. 110 degrees. The Nebraska summer heat was relentless. Seth, the farmhand with the rock hard body, a man who sweat for a living, was stacking fence posts out by the corral. As she gazed across the shimmering heat of the back yard toward him, she spread her legs wider, trying to cool her privates. Sweat ran down her thighs. Her mom and dad had gone to Iowa for the weekend to visit friends, and she and Seth were left behind to tend the stock. He had the dairy herd and Darla fed the chickens, pigs, and horses. She gathered the chickens into the coop each evening to deprive the coyotes of late night snacks. Darla wore her old thin house dress, no bra, and no panties. The fabric was nearly transparent and with the sweat of her body, the brown of her nipples and the dark spot of her pussy were visible. If she were alone, she would have been nude in the oppressive heat. It was stifling, not a breath of air. She sat on the rocker in the shade of the porch roof and sipped cider from the storm cellar where the perishable victuals were kept. It had to be 65 degrees cooler in there. She envied the bacon and hams hanging there, not in their deadness, but at least they were cool. She unconsciously fanned between her legs with an old fan her mother had brought home from the funeral of a friend in Grand Island a few years ago. They had no air conditioning or electric fans. Electricity had only come that summer when the REA finally moved west of Fairbury. 1947 was not a year of great labor saving home improvements, especially with the need for electricity for all that was to come. Darla had no brothers or sisters. She was the sole heir to the farm. It had been in the family since 1874. Her sweat was in the place as was that of her parents and now, Seth's. She wanted the farm, she loved the farm. The miracle of new growth every year, the bursting of green crops to life filled her senses with the fecundity of the soil. It was part of Darla, but more than that, it was her reason for being. Each year she also realized that it was the place where she longed to produce the fruits of her body, fertilized by a strong man to guarantee the continuation of ownership through the years. At 23, she felt the need growing in her. She would finish college next Spring and would come back here to farm with her parents. "May God bring me a man, please Oh God," she prayed every night. Seth was finished with the fence posts and had just come up for air after dousing his head and shoulders under the pump. He strode onto the porch. His wet chest glistened in the light, each exposed muscle in sharp relief under the strong sun. "Miss Darla, it's..." said Seth. She interrupted, "Seth, call me Darla, this isn't the Old South! You make me feel like a spinster," she laughed. He smiled and shyly said, "... ah...Darla, it's time." She hated to get up and leave the cooler porch, but she knew the garden needed watering. She pumped as he filled the buckets and carried them to the plot, bringing the life-giving fluid to the beans, squash, turnips and potatoes and her mother's prize winning tomatoes. A day without water in this heat would kill everything. As she pumped the water, she was totally conscious of Seth's eyes on her sweat drenched dress. Her conscious decision to wear it today now seemed a bit slutty to her, showing him too much, but he seemed to be enjoying as he kept stealing glances at her as she pumped. Darla looked up, straight at Seth for a moment as his eyes locked onto hers, those gray eyes that were so transparent, so mysterious. He seemed particularly fixed on the "V" between her legs. She knew her bush could be seen quite clearly through the thin material. His gray eyes seemed to have the power to peel the cloth away allowing the hot southwest breeze that had just sprung up to heat her skin further. She shook her head and shifted her gaze back to the pump. "Darla, look out toward Kansas," said Seth. The sky was blackening rapidly; thunderheads were boiling up. The drought was going to be broken; the much-needed moisture to ensure the germinating of the winter wheat was coming. The distant thunder sounded pregnant with the prophesy of rain. "Seth, get the horses in the barn and secure it. I'll round up the chickens and the baby pigs. We don't have much time." As he turned, his well-muscled back shone with sweat and the mysterious scar just below his left clavicle caught her gaze. What had happened? He had been in Europe for three years. What evils had he seen? As she hurried away her mind locked on his image, what he looked like when he took a bath under the yard pump wearing his old swimming trunks in the evening. Hard, lithe body, wondering what his arms would feel like around her, his chest moving against her breasts. She tried to imagine the extent of the bulge in his trunks that often grew when he knew she was watching him. The chickens were scattered, clucking nervously as they sensed the coming deluge. She finally got them rounded up and also shooed the baby pigs back into the pen where the sow herded them into the pig house. Dashing into the house, she started closing windows and doors. Outside again, she secured the wooden storm shutters over the windows facing southwest, the direction from which the fury would hurtle toward them. She prayed it would be a good, soaking thunderstorm after the wind had carried it upon them. She feared the dreaded prairie tornadoes that caused her an unsettled anxiety as they wove their path of death and destruction across the helpless prairie. Seth rounded the corner of the barn running toward the storm cellar as the first crash of lightning struck in the south pasture, singing the old sycamore tree. She gathered up her skirt and ran to the shelter too, ducked down the steps, and Seth clumped down after her, securing the heavy double doors. Darla exclaimed, "Oh Jesus, it's freezing in here!" A 65 degree drop in temperature from the outside slammed into her bare shoulders, made her thin, wet dress clamp onto her skin like a layer of ice. Her mother had left some blankets on the side bench where they sat during a storm. She hastily grabbed one to wrap about her shoulders. Her knees were exposed, and goose flesh popped up rapidly. Her teeth started to chatter involuntarily loud enough for Seth to hear. He hurried to her side. "Darla, take the other blanket too, wrap your legs," he said. "No, that's for you." "No ma'am, your teeth are chattering, and you're shaking," he said with real concern in his voice as he wrapped the second blanket around her legs. To add a little warmth he lit the solitary lantern that was vented outside to release the dreaded carbon monoxide that often killed people in storm cellars. The weak light of the lantern began to spread a little warmth, but the chill had penetrated her. He wrapped her tightly in his arms just as the first rain hit; then the hail came followed by the shrieking wind. Her eyes shut tightly, and she rocked slowly in his arms, moaning a bit from the cold but more from the unknown that was forming outside the cold cellar. She thrust her face up into his neck seeking warmth, smelling the smell of his sweat, the horses, feeling the honest grit of prairie dust. It intoxicated her. She hugged him with her arms rubbing up against him to chafe her skin back to warmth. She started to warm but not from the outside. It started between her thighs and rose up through her torso, to her breasts and face. Seth noticed the warmth from her face on his neck. He leaned back slightly and looked into her face expecting her eyes to be closed as they peeked around his jawline. They were not as she scanned his face searching for some sense of his intentions. Lust drove her to an inner determination to act on her fertility urges now. Darla sensed in her heart that she had found her man. Would he agree? Was he also moved to this commitment of tilling the fertile earth and watching his seed grow within her belly? What would he feel and would he need her? The answer came swiftly. The storm raged outside but in his loins he felt the slight heating and a vibration of his skin. He had loved her from almost the day he came to the farm from the Army. The horrors he had seen and the suffering he had endured to preserve what this farm meant, to live free and to love free had to be healed with the only true healing balm, the lotion of love. She reached her mouth up to his and pulled his face down hard to hers. She moaned as his lips engulfed hers. Everything about him was so much bigger than she was. She feared for a moment that she would never be able to take his cock if he loved her enough to give it to her. She gripped him tightly kissing him again. She felt his hand on her breast under the blankets, the thin fabric of her house dress as gossamer to him. He rubbed her nipple and rolled his tongue in her mouth. There was no delay in his hand, no shyness. She felt for his cock through the front of the bib overalls he wore and found it straining against the denim. She backed away from him and in the dim light Darla could see the fire in his gray, eyes to see a smoldering longing deep in his soul. Seth moved his hand from her breast and down the front of her dress approaching the hem that had crawled up to her thighs. She sucked her breath in as she felt his fingers turn the corner and go directly to her hair-covered mound. Seth was not shy. He reached her slit and inserted his finger gently. She moaned high up in her throat. She was no longer cold. She threw the blankets away, wrapped her arms tightly around him smashing her breasts to the bib of the overalls, feeling the rivets and buttons pinch and press her. At another time, they would have hurt her soft skin but because he was the carrier the pain was delicious. She thrust her tongue into his mouth and ground her lips on his "Take me, Seth. Fill me. I've wanted you to be my man since you came here a year ago. I want you to share this life with me if you would, to fertilize this land and to plant your seed in me too so we can grow together." He groaned and thrust his fingers further into her pussy while kneading her right breast more vigorously. They slid from the bench down onto a pile of old feed sacks covering the floor. The storm raged outside, and the sound increased to a furious level, not unlike rumble of a runaway steam train pounding along the tracks. They were aware of crashing and tearing sounds. The heavy doors heaved and danced as the wind sliced over them doing it's damnedest to tear them open and expose them to the fearsome thrusts of debris and rain. Seth pushed her dress up over her breasts; she lifted up and raised her arms, and he slipped it over her head and off. He stood and removed the overalls; he wore no underwear, and his manhood bobbed free in the warm yellow lantern light. She was a goddess in cream and golden-red hair, her fine pubic hair gleaming as the lantern light played softly over her vulva area. With trembling hands, she guided him down to her nether lips, sliding his cock over them to spread the silky soft sheen of precum over her sex. His cock slid into her slowly and after a few inches he stopped and looked at her quizzically as he felt resistance. "Am I the first?" he whispered, his eyes probing hers deeply. "Yes my love, take me slow or fast. Whatever pain there is I give to you freely to seal my love. Whatever blood I give you redeems my love from the depths of my being. Fuck me Seth, oh please just fuck me," she cried. He began to thrust with a purpose, the purpose of love and life, to give her his seed to produce anew, to multiply the species. He broke through her maidenhead quickly as she started and screamed softly, crying tears of pain and joy, kissing him and biting his lip hard enough to bring blood. Seth slowed his thrusting and reached down to touch his cock bringing his hand up to the light. It was covered with her blood. He raised it to his mouth where she had bit him and rubbed his bloody fingers around to mix their essential fluids. He leaned forward with his bloodied lips and kissed her tenderly. She tasted the salty flavor of their mixed bloods. He wiped some blood on each of her cheeks in the ancient tradition of the hunt. She had been blooded by his weapon. She had wounded him in her passion. With the mingling of their blood, all that remained was the joining of sperm and egg. He began thrusting in earnest; she pushed to his rhythm. Sweat dripped from his face onto her breasts even though the cellar cold lingered. She moaned, she twisted, she felt it coming, a massive roll of her body toward him, enormously more vigorous than anything she had ever experienced pleasuring herself. He felt the walls of her vagina tighten, grasping him with velvety tentacles, gripping him with a strength primeval. She screamed in her climax. Rapidly following her Seth emitted a series of grunts and growls as he emptied his semen into her filling her with his virile sperm. It flooded her cervix, dashed to her womb, finding the egg. The storm outside reached it's climax as the tornado roared through the farm fields nearby, killing and tearing. By contrast in the cellar, life had been conceived anew. Darla gripped his taught body with her strong thighs, clamping his hot body to hers while praying he would never pull out of her. She was affirmed in her decision wait for this man who would bring life to her and the farm forever. She looked into his eyes, tears filling hers, and said, "I love you with all my heart, Seth Walker Clayton." "I love you with all my heart, Darla Louise Wilson." They lay on the floor and made love again but much more calmly the second time. Then they slept. When she awoke, it was quiet. She was cold again even though Seth was covering her with his big arm under her breasts as he spooned his soft cock between the crack of her ass. He stirred and kissed her. "Will you marry me, Darla?" She sighed and touched his bloodied lip saying a simple, "Yes." ooOoo Three months after the storm on a beautiful fall afternoon Seth and Darla sat in the living room with her mother and father. Seth wore a white shirt and tie since they had been to church that morning. Darla's father was smoking his pipe and drinking another cup of coffee after the fine lunch her mother had prepared. "Mother, Dad. Seth and I have something to tell you, but, Daddy, Seth needs to ask you a question first." Her father looked up quickly and her mother folded her hands on the calico apron she wore over her Sunday best. "Sir, I love your daughter, Darla, with all my heart. May I have her hand in marriage. If you concur, we will marry very soon. Our dream is to live here and work this farm with you as long as you will let us," said Seth emotionally. The room was silent save for the ticking of the old mantle wind-up clock that had been in the family so any years. "Mother, what do you think of Seth's proposal? She's your daughter as much as mine." "Darla, do you love him?" asked her mother? "I do, Mother, with all my heart and soul. I also carry his child, Mother, and Dad. The day I discovered I was pregnant was the happiest day of my life," she spoke quietly and lovingly, all the while staring at Seth. Her mother started crying, and her father suddenly had to look out of the window as he tried to clear an imaginary speck from his eye. After a very long pause, he looked at the young couple and said, "Seth, my son. Darla, my daughter. May God bring His blessing upon you and make you fertile." Darla ran to her father and hugged him, crying tears of joy. Mrs. Wilson hugged her new son. "Seth, let's make it Otto from now on," said Mr. Wilson. Her mother said, "And call me, Amelia." Everyone laughed, and the hugs continued. The next spring Otto Seth Walker was born to Mr. and Mrs. Seth Walker. He was named after Darla's dad. The death and destruction to plants and animals caused by the tornado were nearly invisible as the land fertilized by God and wet by the spring rains continued the eternal cycle of life and death. The scars were all but gone. The life conceived in that storm cellar promised a hold on the land for decades to come. And it did.