A JOURNEY TO THE EAST
By Richard Rivers
Day 5, Thursday:
An inch thick stack of papers lay before me, revisions from Mr Ogawa. Alongside
lay a terse note from Megumi: 'Mr Ogawa is not pleased with your latest work.
Incorporate his suggestions and deliver them to me when you have finished.' I
squeezed my eyes closed feeling alone and for the first time unsure of myself.
These people make me feel like an outsider, I thought. I'm just a worthless
employee to them, a foreigner...My eyes snapped open again. I had been up most of the night. Weariness
threatened to overwhelm me, weariness and the image of Satomi gently rolling her
shoulders, her robe falling and folding about her waist to reveal her tiny white
breasts. Whenever I closed my eyes I saw her again, so shy, so soft, seductive
in her modest way. I couldn't believe that she had offered herself to me; it
had to be a dream, but closing my eyes brought back the all-too-vivid image of
her naked body, too real for any dream and too persistent to let me rest.The tone of Megumi's note carried an ominous undercurrent, as if she were
signaling more than just the disapproval of Mr Ogawa. Yesterday she had given no
sign that she knew I had been with Satomi...but surely she had heard the young
girl's fleeing footsteps; the spot on the bench next to me must still have been
warm when she sat down exactly where the young girl had been. Mentioning
nothing about Satomi Megumi had greeted me warmly and commented on the beauty of
the day. Still, as we talked I wondered how she could not have known that
Satomi had been with me and why she chose not to acknowledge it. The curt note
and her absence this morning only made me more suspicious that she knew
something had happened. I wondered if she had been spying on the two of us,
seeing all that had transpired...***
Mr Ogawa himself paid me a visit that afternoon. I was still hard at work when
he slipped into the library."Don't get up Mr Sato," he said hurriedly, his tone apologetic. "I am sorry to
disturb you this way. I see you have all of my latest revisions." He nodded to
the stack on my desk."Yes sir," I answered. His sudden entrance had taken me of guard. "I am doing
my best with it, but I wanted to ask you about a few of these details..." I
started fishing through the papers.He stopped me. "Mr Sato, I am not here to discuss the work, not directly in any
case," he said glancing out into the garden. "I am content with the procedure
we have used so far. For the most part I have been happy with your work.
However," he lowered his voice, "you seem to have lost some of your
concentration, your focus is not quite the same. Miss Yoshino informs me that
you appear tired. I hope the accommodations I have provided meet with your
approval.""Of course Mr Ogawa," I answered, "everything is fine here, very good in fact.
I am not used to working in this way: all the re-writes, the changes...I don't
mean to criticize you in any way. The fault is all mine if the work is not up
to your standards...""I am glad to hear that you are comfortable," he said. "But I am not talking
about the re-writes. I would ask the same of anyone working for me. I know I
can be difficult: that is my way. What I am referring to is more subtle. The
quality of your work is not what it could be. I would not have specifically
asked for you if I had felt you to be incapable of the task, but I sense that
you are distracted, preoccupied. You make simple mistakes, then follow them up
with something of brilliance. It is almost as if you are throwing it off, as an
after thought. Your mind is elsewhere. You are talented enough to get by with
the residual energy, but that is not what I want from you Mr Sato. I don't want
the left over energy, the overflow, I want the best effort that you have to
offer. That is what I am paying you for.""I am sorry Mr Ogawa," I said, embarrassed. I looked down at the desk before
me. His stern tone put me in my place. I thought over the work I had done in
the last two days: he was right. Among his suggestions were routine
corrections, things a student might have missed, but that someone of my skill
should never have let pass. Some of my work had been good, just as he had said,
but it was almost as if it had been an accident, as if I had stumbled blindly
across the right solutions to the problems he posed, and having to redo much of
that work in a different way was taxing me more than it should have."No," he said gently. "Don't be sorry. I did not intend my visit to be merely
for the purpose of criticizing. I want to help you do better work." He paused,
looking down at his folded hands, a gesture that fleetingly reminded me of his
daughter. "This is a restful place," he said, turning his head towards the
windows overlooking the garden. "It is restful, still there are...distractions
here." He paused. "I know something about it, old as I am." His voice sounded
almost wistful. "So much beauty, such an atmosphere, it is a pity to be here
alone. He looked at me questioningly: "You are single, if I recall?""Yes I am," I answered. I wondered how much he knew or suspected about what had
happened in the last few days. Not about his daughter--we wouldn't be having
just a congenial talk if he knew about that--but perhaps Megumi had said
something to him, or maybe through intuition he could sense what I felt."Well," he looked at me with a penetrating eye. "There are temptations here,
temptations that are not for you..." He spoke sharply, waiting for his words to
sink in before lowering his voice and continuing. "I will not say more...But I
know what it is to travel, to be far from home, alone. I think I can...ease
your stay here a little. After all, I want you at your best, your most alert."
He reached into his pocket and drew out a white piece of paper, not much larger
than a playing card, that dangled from a long string. "I can arrange some
companionship for you if you wish," he said with a faint smile as his eyes
wandered away from me, out the windows to the garden.He lay the card on the desk between us. "Don't say anything," he said, as if to
himself. "It is embarrassing, I know. If you wish it, simply hang the card
outside your door when you retire tonight. You will have more than pleasant
dreams, I assure you, and tomorrow I will expect renewed vitality and better
concentration from you."After he left me I stared for a long time at the simple white card he left on my
desk, wondering what it could possibly mean.***
The day grew hot; a shimmering hazy air hung over the pond, thick and humid. I
walked slowly, trying not to break a sweat, skirting the edge of the pond,
crossing the stone bridge and climbing the path that led steeply up the hill
behind the guest house. At the top of the hill the path faded into the forest.
I headed deeper into the trees away from the guest house across the soft mossy
ground.After my meeting with Mr Ogawa a strange feeling of anticipation came over me
and I couldn't wait for evening to come. A good strenuous hike seemed like the
best way to make the remainder of the day pass quickly. I felt in my pocket for
the white card and wondered what experience it would lead to when I put it on my
door that night.The sound of running water drew me onward. I knew the stream that fed the ponds
issued from somewhere above and I set my goal to locate it. The ground began to
rise more steeply again and large moss covered rocks jutted from the forest
floor more frequently until I found myself climbing over them, stepping from
stone to stone. The sound of water grew stronger until at last I came across
the stream running in a narrow chasm between rock walls. Having reached my
goal with greater ease than I expected I decided to follow the course of the
water up stream to see where it might lead.Now the way became more difficult, the rocks lay piled steeply against each
other and I picked my way carefully along the bank. The forest grew thickly
shading the ground and making the water look dark and cold. Ahead of me a steep
face rose, a small cliff perhaps fifteen feet high. The stream poured over the
edge in a small but noisy waterfall.I stopped to look at the water pouring over the mossy cliff face to enjoy the
view. It seemed that the way ahead had become impassable. Before turning back
I decided to sit and rest a while, taking in the view and listening to the
calming rush of the water. As I studied the waterfall and the cliff face over
which it spilled I became aware of what appeared to be a series of stone steps
cut into the rock. Covered with moss, they at first seemed to be a natural
feature mimicking a work of man, but their regularity and uniform spacing
emerged to my perception the longer I looked at them. After a while I became
convinced that this was indeed a stairway leading up the cliff, ancient and
unused perhaps, but still in good enough shape to allow me to continue on my
way.I set off at once, my curiosity aroused. If the steps were indeed man made they
might lead to something of interest above. Once I had picked my way over the
rocks to the base of the stairway the going was easy: the stairs were wide and
smooth, moss covered but still completely passable. At the top they terminated
on a rocky ledge running along the edge of the low cliff. The trees and dense
undergrowth of the forest began again as if unbroken. Here the stream had
swelled into a large pond; the water held by a low rocky dam that channeled it
over the waterfall.I began walking along the edge of the pond, continuing my direction upstream.
The far side had a more grassy sloping edge, almost manicured in appearance. As
I looked across the water I became aware of movement in the trees, a figure in
white appearing and disappearing as it glided through the forest. Presently the
figure emerged onto the grassy bank between the trees and the water. Satomi.
She had her head cocked sideways and was twisting her hair, wringing water out
of it. I could see the silvery droplets falling and her wet hair glistening in
the sunlight. She slowly meandered along the water's edge before finding a spot
and sitting down.As she sat down Satomi noticed me standing across the water from her. Calmly,
as if discovering me watching her came as no surprise at all, she cupped her
hands to her mouth and called to me. "Mr Saaaaatoooo!" Her voice, clear and
bell-like, carried across the water, above the sound of the falls."Hello!" I called back and waved.
"Mr Sato," she called again. "You took the hard way!" I could hear her
laughter. "There is a path on this side. Much easier to get back. Why don't
you come across?"I looked around for some way to cross but there wasn't a bridge in sight; the
pond was large, too wide to cross. "Where can I cross?" I called back to her.She laughed again. "You have to walk across. The water does not get very deep.
Hold your clothes over your head."The look of concern on my face must have been plain all the way across the water
because she called out again: "Don't worry, I will keep my eyes closed." She
made an exaggerated show of putting her hands over her eyes.I slipped my sandals off and tested the water with my toes. It felt cool and
refreshing after my walk through the hot and humid forest. Still I hesitated to
undress in sight of Satomi."Go on! Don't be shy," she called to me again.
Feeling a bit self conscious I undressed and held my bundled clothes in front of
my crotch in case Satomi decided to peek after all. When I looked across at her
she seemed to still have her hands over her eyes but I left the bundle in place
until the water covered me. The bottom of the pond was paved with small stones
smooth from years of water running over them. It felt soft under my feet. As
I reached the mid point the water rose almost to my shoulders and I had to hold
my things high overhead to keep them dry.When I came splashing out of the water Satomi dropped her hands from her eyes.
I quickly brought the bundle of clothes down to cover myself. "I thought you
said you would keep your eyes closed," I said.She let out a sigh of mock exasperation. "I have seen worse than that," she
said. "Get dressed."She kept her eyes on me as I clumsily tried to unroll my clothes and put them on
without letting her see any more of my naked body than I had to. I felt
embarrassed struggling into my clothes in front of her watchful gaze.When I had dressed she patted the grass beside her and asked me to sit. "I just
finished my swim before you came along. If you had been a few minutes earlier
you could have seen me without my clothes on...again." She looked down at her
toes nestled in the grass.I had put yesterday completely out of my mind. After meeting with Mr Ogawa and
receiving the white card I only wanted the day to pass quickly, to meet no one.
I lowered myself to the ground beside her, not too close, anxious of what she
might say or do."Did you have a nice talk with Megumi yesterday?" she asked. Her voice became
shy and soft again.Ah, she wants to know if Megumi noticed her, I thought. "Yes," I said, "very
pleasant." I decided to be open with her: "She didn't say anything about you.
I think you got away before she saw you."Satomi shook her head. "No," she said. "She was watching us the whole time.
She came forward to stop me...from...She walked loudly on purpose, to warn me.
If she had meant to surprise us she would have done so.""No!" I said, shocked. "She saw everything?"
Satomi nodded without looking at me. She brought her knees to her chest and
hugged them."Do you think she told your father?" I asked.
The meeting with Mr Ogawa that morning, Megumi's terse note...my mind raced
trying to penetrate their motives: Mr Ogawa couldn't know could he? About his
daughter? But what were the 'temptations' (plural!) he meant? And why the
white card? If Megumi had definitely seen us...had she told him of my interest
in her, not Satomi? Maybe she was protecting me and her terse note was a
warning..."She would never do that," Satomi said. "She wants you."
"Me?" I said, incredulous but with a bit of foolish lover's hope creeping into
the back of my mind. "How can you say that? What about the other night, what
we saw?""I know what we saw," she said. "But she wants you. I can tell. She wants all
the attention, all the men to chase after her, then she will either give in or
not as she pleases. She does not know that you have seen her other lover; I am
the one she thinks is ruining her little game."Her words filled me with hope and dread: I had to find Megumi before night fell
and explain what had happened in the garden between Satomi and me, that it
wasn't at my instigation. I remembered the white card: perhaps it would summon
her. She had not shown herself all day. Where was she anyway?"Mr Sato," Satomi broke my train of thought. "Why don't you want me instead?"
She had lain back onto the grass, letting the folds of her robe part to reveal
her breasts.I quickly turned my head away, blood burning in my face and ears.
"Well, why don't you?" she asked again. She sat upright and put her hand on my
shoulder. I couldn't look at her. I froze, staring at the grass between my
feet."Satomi, please," I whispered. The air seemed to catch in my throat; it was an
effort to make that small amount of sound. "I shouldn't...I mean I can't.""But why?" She slid her hand down my back and off me, disappointment clear in
her voice. "Why?" she asked again.Strangely I felt close to tears, as if the smallest movement might upset my
poise and start me crying. I couldn't explain what I was feeling. "Satomi, it
wouldn't be right," I said. "You're so young. What would your father say?""I'm almost seventeen," she said. Her voice was quietly defiant. "That is old
enough. And I don't care what he would say anymore. He tries to keep me locked
up all the time, here, at home in Tokyo. Besides...after what I have I have
seen. In the last two years things have changed. I have changed..." She
paused for a long time. Only the sounds of the forest and the running water
passed between us."Am I not as beautiful as she is?" Her voice trembled slightly as if now she
might cry at any moment.I felt trapped: of course she was beautiful, and I even felt desire for her, but
more than anything she was still Mr Ogawa's daughter, forbidden to me. How
could I delicately spurn her and preserve her feelings?"Satomi...I...of course you are beautiful," I said.
"But Megumi..." She started to finish what I was saying, then stopped.
"No, not because of Megumi," I broke back in. "Even if there was no Megumi I
could not do it. I wouldn't...Satomi, I'm sorry."I felt my words pierce her, like arrows which once released continued along
their painful trajectory. Beyond my power to recall them I could only observe
the impact they had on her as they squarely hit their mark."I'm sorry," I said again in the middle of a long silence.
She pulled her robe about her shoulders. "Mr Sato," she said, almost a whisper.
"Will you meet me in the garden tonight. I promise not to do
anything...bad...again. But we might climb the hill behind the house..."I thought of the white card, and of where I had to be that evening. "No
Satomi," I said. I turned to face her, twisting my body. "I don't think it
would be a good idea for me to..."Quickly, so quickly that I never saw, her nimble fingers reached into my pocket
and snatched out the white card: my movement had dislodged it bringing it
partially into view."Not a good idea," she said mocking me, holding the card away from my grasping
fingers. "Now I see why. I know what this is Mr Sato!""Satomi!" I felt caught. "I...Your father...He said..." The words caught in
my chest. My embarrassment was total."I know who gave it to you," she snapped, still fingering the card, turning it
over in her hands. "This is how he manipulates people," she said, holding it up
as if it were a piece of incriminating evidence. "It is so easy for him to
control you. You, Megumi, everyone...""What do you mean, about Megumi," I asked. The mere mention of her name set off
within me the wild hope that the card might have something to do with her,
summon her to my room that evening. "I thought she went behind your father's
back...to..."Satomi rolled her eyes. "Behind his back? Never. He knows all about it. I
think he might even have something to do with arranging it.""For what purpose?" I asked, bewildered.
"I don't know," she shrugged. "It is all a game to him. Everything is a test
of character, loyalties, allegiances. He uses the most powerful things to
motivate people, and in that way also controls them, absolutely."Her insights seemed so wise, beyond her years. I felt ashamed. She rose
letting the card flutter to the ground beside me."Have your fun tonight, Mr Sato," she said. I could see her struggling to feign
indifference. "But remember: your room also has windows, the same as Megumi's."She turned and left me. I grasped for the white card lest the wind should blow
it out onto the pond as Satomi stalked off into the trees.***
Moonlight lit the room. Like a spotlight a blue-gray shaft streamed through the
high window illuminating me as I lay in bed.The white card hung outside my door; with furtive glances up and down the hall I
placed it there just before turning out my lights and getting into bed. I
waited for the sound of footsteps, wondering whom the card might summon, caught
uneasily between eager anticipation and the sinking feeling that I was being
watched. My feelings of disquiet and anticipation grew as the darkness
deepened. I felt like an animal caged and on display. Without turning I
rolled my eyes in the direction of the window; I didn't want Satomi to see me
looking up at her, if she was really out there.I am unsure how long I waited before drifting off to a fitful sleep, dreaming
that the moon had a young girl's face and was staring down on me with wide
accusing eyes.The door latch clicked softly sending a soft shudder through me, at once a sigh
of relief and a heightening of senses as my body reacted instinctively to the
threat of the unknown. I pretended to be asleep as I watched a woman's
silhouette briefly outlined against the light from the hall fade back into the
darkness as the door closed silently behind her. The momentary image was all I
needed to see that the woman in my room was small, with a round, soft looking
body: definitely not Megumi.Who could it be, I wondered?
She slipped out of her robe and in the semi darkness I could see the fullness of
her breasts, the shadowy cleft between them revealed as she walked over to me
through the shaft of moonlight. She slipped under the covers beside me without
a sound. Her thigh slid along mine, raising goose bumps.We lay side by side for a moment before she said something to me in Japanese,
whispering.I rolled over to face her. "Do you speak English?" I whispered back.
"English?" She propped her head on her arm. "Only a little."
"What's your name?"
"Yuko"
"Yuko, I'm Ken," I said dumbly. I almost extended my hand as if to shake hers.
I still hadn't touched her and the situation felt awkward. I wasn't sure what
to do next, and with Satomi possibly watching from high above I felt more than
my usual share of self consciousness."Ken. Hello Ken," she whispered back. She remained still for another moment,
then she was all action. With her free hand lightly on my chest she gently
pushed me onto my back pressing her body against mine. She began running her
hands up and down my chest. Her cool fingers glided down to my stomach, over my
arms, across my nipples where she paused to lightly rub her palms over them with
a circular motion.I thought with relief that if Satomi had really come to spy on me all she was
getting to see were the covers moving, a ripple traveling up and down my body
where Yuko's hands stroked me. Her touch felt soft and relaxing. More than
arousing me she was stroking away all of the nervous tension and frustration
that had been building up in me over the past several days.Yuko was perceptive: "So tense. So tense," she kept whispering in my ear as
she ran her hands over me. Gradually I melted beneath her touch, all of me
except my penis which had become painfully stiff.Go lower, I kept thinking, just a bit lower every time her hands reached my
belly and turned back to my chest. Before long she had me gasping with
pleasure, desperate for her to touch me. As she stroked my belly I thrust my
pelvis upward bringing the tip of my penis in contact with her hand demanding
her attention. She let her finger tips slowly run down the soft underside of it
with a feathery touch."Too fast!" she said with a mocking tone, as a mother would scold a naughty
schoolboy. "Too big already." Then softer, as if to herself: "Soon..."She rose to her knees beside me and began pulling the covers off me. The night
was warm after all and the only reason I had them over me in the first place was
because I thought Satomi might be watching."Stay under the covers," I said, grabbing handfuls of the sheet on either side
of her and pulling them around us. "Please..."I saw her eyes get wider as she looked at me for a moment. Bending lower she
edged herself backwards under the covers I felt the tip of a cool breast graze
my hot penis. She giggled, muffled by the sheets, then suddenly I felt her
mouth engulf me, her lips closing around me just below the head. I swelled in
her mouth in answer to the sweet sensation. The moan that rose from her throat
passed to my body as a vibration. I answered with a sound of my own, a long
drawn out "ohhhhh."Slowly she began nodding motions, taking a little more of me in each time,
spreading the sweet touch of her mouth over more and more of me. She brought
her hands up and gripped my thighs to steady herself while her head moved up and
down on me sharply, little knifing thrusts of her neck that sent waves of
pleasure through me. I brought my hands up and covered my face. I didn't know
what else to do. I felt completely pampered, like a king, as she treated me to
her very skilled performance; I wanted to watch her but the thought of Satomi
possibly looking on kept me from throwing off the covers.Yuko released me from her mouth and I felt her warm hand encircle me. She gave
a few soft tugs then I felt her hair brushing against me as she lowered her head
between my thighs and I felt the gentle touch of her tongue against my balls. I
brought my knees up to give her better access and she took advantage, going all
over and around them, making my entire body vibrate with pleasure as the ever-
so-delicate motions of her tongue made goose bumps rise all over my body.She took one of them into her mouth. I stiffened and held my breath; sometimes
that is too much to endure but she was gentle and handled me with such finesse
that I relaxed completely and lost myself to the feeling. When she sensed I was
more at ease she astonished me by fitting the other one in her mouth as well.
The breath caught in my lungs when she tugged on them gently with her mouth.
This is unbelievable, I thought; she seemed to posses an uncanny ability to do
just what pleased me and it made me feel a kind of helpless bliss as I
surrendered myself to her completely.When I felt I could stand it no longer I drew her up to me and we exchanged a
long deep kiss. My penis felt hot, trapped between our bodies. I let my hands
move over the soft skin of her back, down to her behind while she lay on top of
me. Drawing her still farther up I brought her breasts in reach of my mouth and
let my tongue flick across her hard nipples, tasting their slight salty tang.
Hungrily I pressed her body to me and let her soft flesh envelop me.Rolling off me she let out a sighing "OK..." and then took a few deep breaths as
she fished around next to the mat and produced a condom. She must have placed
it there when she slipped in beside me, I realized.She held up the packet before me. "Please?" she said.
"Oh, of course," I stammered, my voice almost a whisper.
"Please open it," she said. "My fingers are not good..."
She giggled as I struggled to tear it open, eventually ripping it with my teeth.
The high window overlooking the room was open: I wondered if Satomi was outside,
and if she could hear the crinkling plastic as the packet finally gave way.Yuko took it from me and lifted the sheet. Somehow, after what we had already
done, having her dive under the covers again seemed absurd. In the heat of
desire I thought about Satomi: Let her watch, I thought. I don't care if she is
really out there crouching under the eaves spying on us; It will serve her
right to see this anyway.A reckless sense of abandon came over me as I threw the covers aside somewhat
roughly, startling Yuko for an instant before she giggled again. Let Satomi get
a good look at this I thought as I lay back and let Yuko roll the condom onto
me.When she had covered me Yuko started to climb on top. She had done all of the
work so far I realized, and with my new found sense of abandon I didn't feel
like being the passive one any longer. Somehow too in the back of my mind it
occurred to me that I should try to appear strong to Satomi by taking on a more
aggressive role. Grabbing Yuko by her waist I rolled her onto her back and got
between her legs. She was ready for me and immediately grasped my penis and
guided me to her opening. I let my weight pin her down as I sank into her: she
was warm and wet, her body surrounding me, pulling me inside as her legs locked
around me, tightening.I pushed myself all the way inside her and was still for a moment as I absorbed
the sensation of her body around me before I began slowly thrusting in and out
of her. Yuko was silent other than her heavy breathing and she held me tightly
in her arms. The feeling of being inside her was at once such a relief, the
culmination of so much anticipation, and an imperative, filling me with a sense
of restless urgency; my body seemed to act of its own volition and began its
inexorable series of motions and reflexes that completely circumvented my
conscious will. And yet somehow, without my becoming explicitly aware of it my
thoughts shifted gradually to Satomi, and I began to feel with more certainty
that she was actually there, outside, watching me. I even began to wish that it
were so, to enjoy the thought that I was performing for her in some way.With a sense of showmanship in mind I accentuated my movements, exaggerating
every gesture. I brought Yuko's legs up over my shoulders and drove myself into
her with greater force. Unaware of my motivation she seemed to be enjoying my
efforts. She let out short squeaky sigh each time I plunged back into her and I
felt the muscles in her body tense as she gripped me more tightly between he
soft thighs.By then my mind was made up: I knew that Satomi was definitely watching me. The
thought of her looking down on me from high above added heat to my passion; as
if after all those times that as a boy that I had sat up above and spied on the
beautiful Jill Tomita taking her lessons with my father I could finally come
down and act out my fantasy. In that moment I thought I could identify a little
bit with the virginal and frustrated Satomi sitting high above, wanting nothing
but to be down here in the room with me, to take Yuko's place.Carried away by these thoughts, and also by an almost perverse desire to rub it
in I pulled out of Yuko and gently turned her on her side so that she faced the
high window. Positioning myself behind her I hooked my arm under her leg
raising it high in the air, spreading her wide. Yuko grasped me and guided me
back into her. I knew that from above Satomi would be getting an excellent view
as I began thrusting in an out from behind while I managed to snake my free arm
around her shoulders to play with her breasts.Yuko moaned with each stroke. Her hair was right in front of my face and it
shook as the tremor of my hard thrusts traveled through her body. I was boiling
over, too far gone to know if I was treating her more roughly than she liked.
She didn't stop me, but then nothing could have by that point. My strokes came
faster and faster. I pounded into her as hard as I could until a powerful
orgasm ripped through me and I came inside her with a seemingly endless stream
of heavy throbbing spurts.Yuko rolled onto her stomach with me still inside her and I lay on top panting
and making feeble attempts to keep pushing myself into her. When I grew soft
and slipped out of her she turned towards me and we entwined our arms.I fell asleep in her warm embrace and only vaguely remember waking briefly when
she slipped from the bed and let herself out of the room.
Fin, Part 5 of 7
Richard Rivers
2/98