"You are my oracle."
A stray dog barked somewhere along the shore front. A car door slammed. In the silence, a thousand alarms and sirens wailed faintly.
He stared into her eyes, so old and wise, yet so full of innocence.
And then his mouth was on hers again. Gently, expertly. Insistent, but never pushing too hard. Not asking too much. Just enough.
When they broke apart she turned quickly towards the heavily curtained window, desperate to look anywhere but him, to hide her embarrassment. Within a few moments there was nothing but retreating footsteps, and she was alone again.
Her mind automatically turned to her childhood, playing the few happy scenes she could still recall in her mind's eye. In years past this tendency had confused her. Why should the warm flush Aloysius brought over her trembling body sweep her away to her far distant past? Slowly, the answer had surfaced; Those brief, sunny days shrouded by time were the last moments she felt truly safe.
These moments with him, now, were safety renewed. The innocence of childhood was stripped away too soon. Looking back, she knew the safety she felt then was no more real than the dark stain her sister drew across her lips. But this- he- they- were real.