The pale, unyielding moon shimmered above the rolling whitecaps in the bay. Heat rose from the smooth sand, distorting the scant light that lingered in the night. The water curled and crashed against the shore, spawning in the tumult an array of tiny moons; reflections in a shattered mirror.
The beach was silent. No seabirds cawed, no crabs scuttled. The creatures remained hidden, sheltered from the pervading presence of sin. It seemed the animals always knew.
A short distance inland, within the great city, a heinous crime was unfolding. Nature herself was poised to be violated– ravaged beneath the veil of the canopy bed. The night-black of the chamber was dotted with the clustered flames of grand, thick candles. Red petals adorned the white sheets upon which the ritual would begin.
Beside the bed, the two lovers danced sensually. Impish smiles played upon their lips as their bodies entwisted and their hands explored. Thirsting lips met one another as they fell to the bed and threw the man's black jacket to the floor. They inhaled one another in passion as they undressed each other, until the lithe, nymphal woman and the broad, muscular man lay smooth against the sheets. For many long seconds they each stared, unblinking, into the other's eyes.
They were unwed. They sought no child. These things did not matter; nature cared not for the puritanical shackles society had thrust upon them. No, their sin was far greater.
Their desire swelled. He ran his hands across her full breasts and felt her rise between his fingers. His body responded, and he pulled his knees up the length of the mattress, straddling his lover above her hips.
He offered her one more delicate kiss before the lurid crescendo. The faintest pang of nervousness– evil, excited– flitted through him before he finally penetrated her.
His turgid phallus, driven deep into her navel, was the implement of unbirth. The inverted umbilical cord, sending her backwards, driven by the creative act that spawns all life. A perversion of natural law. A radical undoing of time.
Immediately she cried out in ecstasy. He laughed softly as they rocked together, locked in unholy congress beneath the exquisite canopy and the stalwart moon.
When morning came, he woke first. A new, dull ache in his left knee struggled against him as he rose from the bed. The still air felt cooler against his bare skin as he crossed to the bathroom. He winced when he saw the stretch marks raking his body. He stared at his sunken reflection and argued, silently, that she was worth it.
The rising sun slowly crept to her eyes and gently prodded her awake. She felt herself giddily: the firmness, the smoothness. Youth. The small lines in her face had pulled taut and vanished. Fresh, pigmented roots had risen from her crown in stark contrast to the pallid hair beyond. She lay there, dozing and content, as her lover emerged from the bathroom fully dressed. He whisked aside his long raven locks and stooped to gently kiss her cheek.
"Did you like last night?" Johnny asked.
"Yes I did," Lisa replied.
Johnny laughed enigmatically.