Albania
(1947-1957)

July 31, 1949

Tom and I were huffing as we dragged out an extra-large cauldron from his study out into the grassy field. He was stronger than me so it naturally went his direction, but I supposed it was better I helped a little than stand around watching him. We could have used our magic to move it and not worry about working up a sweat but Tom had been very particular this afternoon and did not want to give off any magical energy that could affect the potion.

It was finally a pleasant, breezy summer day, which was why Tom had decided to finally put our soul stones to use. It had been rather hot the past month, so it was refreshing to not sweat constantly. The sun was still bright and it required me to wear my black, pointed hat to cover my eyes. Tom instructed me to fill the cauldron a quarter full of water. "Can I accio the bucket to us? Or do I have to do that by hand too?"

He gave me hard look and said, "What do you think Eva?" I sighed and went to get the bucket from the bathroom. While I was leaning against the stone walls of the well I decided that I would just duplicate the bucket so that I could bring all the water in one load. Hopefully Tom would be too busy to notice. Frankly, I had never heard of a potion being affected by previous spells upon cauldron and water, but Tom seemed a bit nervous and agitated about it so I didn't question him. I knew everything would turn out fine.

He had explained in the morning that we were going to create a rudimentary body for our trapped animal souls. It was very exciting, especially since this was something that wasn't taught at Hogwarts. I hoped it would work because, who knows, maybe I could take our goat's soul, cook his body, then make a new one the next day so I wouldn't feel bad about killing him? I laughed at my own strange idea. Tom was coming out of the study while I had just finished pouring all the water into the cauldron. Quickly I flicked my wand and muttered a spell for the duplicate buckets to disappear. Tom was preoccupied enough that he didn't notice.

Under his right arm was a gnarly, leather bound book, and under his left arm was a large silver spoon. In his hands were three small vials and one medium sized vial of a silvery, shiny liquid. He immediately sat down onto the grass next to cauldron and I slowly crouched down next to him. He set the vials and spoon aside and opened up the book up to a page where the corner had been bent for so long it was worn. On the sides of the pages there was what looked like dried blood splatter, and I stared at him wondering whether what this book had gone through. "Right then, this is the recipe to make our body. It calls for thirty drops of unicorn blood and twenty of snake venom in a boiling water bath of – it says here three gallons and a pottle – that's three and half gallons." He stood up quickly to look into the cauldron. He bent over the sides and stuck his wand into the water. After a few moments he turned his head to me and told me, "Take about half a bucket of water out."

I stood up and did so while he sat back down to read the instructions again out loud. I threw the water into an opposite side of pasture and sat down next to Tom. "Eva, you need to pay attention, this potion is important. We need to get it right. Especially since this unicorn's blood was damned expensive. Prices in Knockturn Alley have gone up considerably. I already have these three other vials, but depending on how well this goes, I'm afraid I might need more."

"Isn't it illegal to sell unicorn blood?"

Tom rolled his eyes at me. "Does it matter? I'd kill a unicorn myself if I could find one out here, save us a few Galleons."

Killing a unicorn was a serious thing to say, but even the fact that he had the blood and we were using it was also rather immoral. But there seemed to be no reall wrong doing - it was just another ingredient. "Where did you even get the money?" I asked. Tom did not answer.

When he had come home later that morning from his unexpected trip to London, I was greeted by a tired, young wizard with bags full of surprises. I already had cleaned the house and made breakfast by the time he arrived. I had been worried and missed him awfully. It scared me, at first, finding him nowhere in the vicinity. He had disappeared before but only when I had made him upset. I wondered if I had done something wrong the night before, but I couldn't figure out what. My brain was wracked the whole morning imagining why he would leave. Imagine my delight when he arrived with gifts.

"My lord, I was so worried you left me – as in permanently," I told him after I had given him a hug. He immediately sat down at the table and demanded breakfast. I had already eaten so I gave him plenty of eggs and fried potatoes with onions. I sat down in the wooden chair next to him while my hands were itching to find out what was in the bags. They appeared to be from Diagon Alley, which would make sense due to how tired he was. Cross-continent Apparation always made Tom so tired. Of course, I couldn't even do a feat such as that so I was impressed regardless.

He finished his breakfast silently. After he set his silverware onto the plate he brushed his hands through his dark hair and looked at me intensely. "Why would you think I was going to leave you?"

I shook my head, feigning I didn't know why. Honestly, I was too embarrassed to say that I was constantly worried he would leave me. He could be so temperamental and the fact that he and I were even closer only made me more worried. Tom suddenly grabbed my hands and held them in his own. His skin was cooler than mine but his hands were strong. My heart raced because, despite how close we had become, he didn't hold hands with me very often. "Stop thinking like that. I'm not going to leave you. You know too much. If there ever becomes a reason why we should part ways, I'll just kill you."

My hands flinched as I instinctively wanted to pull them away from him at the mention of "kill you." Nervously, I laughed. "You're joking." His face turned cold and impassive. I squeezed his hands and continued talking. "You can't kill me because without me you'll lose the vampires."

Tom acted as if he didn't hear and stretched his neck from side to side. As he did so, his eyes caught the bags sitting at our feet. He let go of me and grabbed one of the bags. He laid it on the table and indicated with his eyes to open it. Although the previous conversation still left me uneasy, I was excited to see that he had really gotten me a gift. I rummaged through and pulled out five books. "Are these for me?" I asked, slightly giddy.

"They're in your hands."

I hugged them to my chest. "Thank you so much!" I beamed at him, while he simply watched me sleepily with one hand propping his head above the table. He had gotten me a real present, and not just one this time: five! I examined them out one by one.

The top book was a red hard-covered book and the largest of the five. Imprinted into the cover was a stoic wizard standing inside a cauldron. The title declared Is Man the Last Ingredient? Written by Muckroy Puter with gold embossing.

The next book had caught my eye with its lime green cover. There was a skull and cross-bones on the cover, however the bones were wooden spoons instead. In silver shimmery lettering, the title said The Production of Disease and Malice: The Green Edition by Talassinus Wrenkultten.

The third book was brown covered, almost like packed dirt, and was the thickest. It had very realistic vines crawling across it. The vines also wrote out the title: Evelint Gord's Cultivation and Location, A Wizard's Guide. As I was going towards the next book, one of the vines' thorns struck my finger. I would have to remember to be careful with this book.

The fourth book was much smaller and thinner than the others and had a glossy black cover. In simple white typed lettering, the title stated Miragula's Ten Wishes of Every Witch: A collection of short tales. This was the most curious book so far.

The last of them, though not biggest in size, had the most enchanting cover. It was covered with smooth satin dyed in a rich purple color. The cover was embedded with lightly colored purple accents swirling around. Looking closer I saw that they were wizards' hats, witches' brooms, and tiny broken hearts. The title was carved in golden cursive. Famous Magical Couples and How Not to Do What They Did, by Olgrain Wo was the long title.

As I admired my new gifts, he shoved a large rectangular box into my face.

"What's this?" I happily asked.

He stared at me now with a little spark in his eyes. His head was still leaning on his arm balancing on the table. His free hand encouraged me to open it.

I took off the top part of the box and pulled out the paper wrappings. At first glance I could tell that it was some sort of clothing. I was in disbelief. I stood up and pulled the entire piece out of the box. It was a beautiful glamorous dress. It was a cerulean blue with short sleeves and cutoff right above my knees. It was so fashionable; I don't think I had ever owned something this tasteful. It looked more like something Druella or Norma would own. It had a fitted waist with streamline contours. It was more wonderful than I could have imagined. I saw that the matching robes were at the bottom of the box. It was the same beautiful blue as the dress but on a silk material. All I could possibly say was, "My lord!"

"There are some gloves too at the bottom. I was going to buy you the fur scarf to go with it, but I ran out of Galleons. They charged me an arm and a leg for the unicorn blood I didn't have much left."

"It's so wonderful and unexpected! Thank you. Really…I don't deserve this."

Although I expected it, Tom did not answer with a scathe remark of "I know you don't." He simply kept quiet. I looked at him and couldn't help but smile. I laid the material on my front, checking to see how well it would fit. It was so lovely - I wouldn't have expected in a million years for Tom to do something like this for me, and it wasn't even noon yet.

"Where did you get it at?" I questioned Tom curiously, though still deeply involved in examining my dress.

He shrugged. "I went to Twilfitt and Tattings. They had the nicer clothes."

I was momentarily shocked. No wonder I could see Druella or Norma wearing this. That was a rich, pureblood's store. It was definitely the highest end dress I had ever owned. It would have been nice if he would have gotten these before Walburga's party, but there was always Norma's wedding to go to.

Suddenly Tom had stood up and pulled me up with him, his hands gently clasping my forearms. He took the dress from my hands and carelessly threw it onto the table. In a thick voice full of sleep with his head bent close to mine he said, "Let's go to bed."

I looked out the window cautiously. "My lord…it's not even noon yet. Shouldn't I go and look for the diadem?" He had gotten me such nice things I felt as if I owed him to work out in the forest for once.

He closed his eyes and pulled me close to him so that our bodies were touching. Still holding my arms, he shook his head slowly. "No, come to bed with me." He blinked slowly, then let go of me and made his way slowly to the bed.

I was unsure of what to do since he never wanted to hug or cuddle with me normally. Occasionally he would before or after sex, but that was it. Every other time was initiated by me and ended quickly by him. But by that time he was lying down under a light blanket with his eyes half open and his arms outstretched for me. My heart melted seeing the man I had pined after for so long visibly want me to hold him.

Compelled by his actions, I crawled my way into his arms and pressed my cheek against his. My head burrowed into the space between his neck and the pillow. I breathed him in, his scent was deep like a forest with notes of spice, and wrapped my arms around his chest. He gently laid his arms around my waist. I heard him sigh and after a minute of stillness I looked at his face. He looked fast asleep and peaceful. Tom Riddle was naturally good looking, that was a fact. But my love for him made him unbearably handsome – every part of him was perfect to me. His dark hair and eyebrows. His perfect lips and structured nose. His high arched cheekbones. His striking eyes, even beautiful when they were closed. I could stare at him forever.

Suddenly my heart was jolted remembering what he had said earlier, about killing me off if we broke up. My breathing quickened, but I stayed in his arms. Could Tom really do that? The answer made me uneasy, yet it was hard for me to comprehend those words were said by the man in my arms. I squeezed him and nestled into his chest near his shoulder. I pushed his threat out of my mind, mainly because I would never leave him so it wasn't even a possibility. I was so comfortable and happy that I fell asleep with him.

Currently, Tom had been kindling the homemade fire while I was fixing up the iron pole on which to hang the cauldron from. We, of course, miscalculated on setting up our potion. We always used magic to set up our station, but this time Tom wanted us all to do it by hand. We realized how much more difficult it was doing it this way, especially when I had already filled the cauldron with water.

The fire was ready and I was struggling linking the hook of the cauldron's huge handle onto the pole arched above the fire. The hook was six inches away from the iron rod but it felt like miles. My arms were too weak to lift it any further. Tom watched me struggle for a minute until he pushed me out of the way to do it himself. I glared at him, frustrated that we had to do everything in this ridiculous non-magical way. I swore to myself, if we performed this again, I was doing it my way just to prove that it made no difference. His face was clenched and twisted as he heaved the heavy cauldron up. The hook barely latched, and he heaved over with exhaustion right after. With his hands on his knees and his head facing down he panted. A moment later he lifted his head and gave me a dark look.

"Would it have killed you to help me?" he wheezed slightly.

My mouth dropped with shock. "My lord! You were the one that pushed me out of the way!"

He stood up quickly and stiffly waved me off with his hand. Tom bent down near the book to pick up the spoon and a couple of silver-filled vials. He handed me the vials and asked me, "What did I say earlier about the ingredients?"

I took them from him and, trying hard not to sound irritated, I said, "Thirty drops of unicorn blood, twenty drops of snake venom. But," I looked at the two shiny, unnatural color vials of unicorn blood," which one is snake venom. Both of these are unicorn blood, no?"

Tom raised an eyebrow at me, "You're right. So you were listening."

I couldn't help but frown. "Yes, I was. And it said not to add until it was boiling, which it's not."

"That's true, so while we wait I'm going to collect the snake venom."

I was interested in what Tom was planning. I knew he could talk to snakes, but rarely did it ever seem to come to good use like it would now. He walked close to the forest and started calling out in hisses. It was very strange, even as a witch, to see him talk in Parseltongue. After a few minutes with no response, I heard him mutter in English something along the lines of him knowing that there is one out there.

The water now had a few bubbles rise from the bottom, but it was not quite yet boiling. I hoped that the snake would come soon because it was most important to add both ingredients right after one another. Within a few moments, Tom was speaking snake again and it seemed like his efforts had been fruitful. A long brown snake slithered its way over the twisting roots of a tree next to Tom. He bent down to talk to it for a little while, and I heard it hiss and spit back. I couldn't help but grin at their little discussion, whatever it was. Tom really liked snakes but nothing else, so it was nice to see him enjoy something like a normal person. Tom even flashed a smile to the scaly creature.

After they were done communicating, Tom reached out and grabbed its head. He walked over to me and checked on the water. Now it was at a steady boil. "First the unicorn blood," he said wanting me to drop the vials in. I obeyed and watched the water turn into a dark black color as I finished counting the right amount of drops. The vial was half depleted. Next he extended the snakes head over the cauldron and it hissed from the heat. Tom pressed around its jaw and head to force its mouth open and extend its fangs. We counted as twenty drops of venom flowed out of the snake's mouth. When there was enough, Tom flung the snake aside into the grass. It surprised me since I thought they had become friends, but it made sense since this was Tom.

The cauldron hissed as the last drop of venom went into the potion. The liquid turned from black to brown to a mossy green color. Tom stuck the spoon in and began to spin it around, however many times the book had indicated. As he spun it, he began to talk to me. "Now there is one last ingredient I need – a part of the body. Once I get that, I can drop the soul stone in and whatever shape the soul was is what the new body will take."

I stared at him, incredulously? "Honestly? That wasn't in the instructions."

He looked back at me with agitation that I questioned him. "I know it wasn't. The body is just anecdotal, but from a reliable source who had positive results from it."

I didn't dare and ask him who it was since he was in a tense mood. "Well, we can't use the rabbit's original body. That's long gone."

"I know that," Tom spat as he spun the spoon. "Fetch the snake again. He told me he had been hunting recently."

I obeyed and searched the grass for the snake. The blades came up to my ankles which made it difficult to spot anything low to the ground. After another minute of searching, I found it curled up near the trees, almost as if it was waiting for me.

I was a bit frightened it might bite me, but I comforted myself by knowing most of its poison was gone. He stuck its head up at me and gave me a look through its yellow eyes as if it knew what I was going to do. "I'm not going to hurt you, but we need your help again," I tried to say reassuringly as I bent down to grab its head. I snatched it quickly as my hand was about a foot away. My fingers wrapped around its face and jaw like how I had seen Tom do it. That way it wouldn't have time to change its mind.

Once I brought the brown snake back to Tom, he told me to let go of its jaw so they could talk. Tom hissed a bit more to the animal and the snake simply nodded. Tom took out the spoon and threw it onto the ground, which caused the surrounding grass to sizzle and melt. The potion was simmering as Tom took the snake from my hand. He gave a short hiss and the snake started to convulse. Slowly I saw the inside of the snake bulge. The bulge rose higher and higher through its body until it was finally at its head. Then the snake hacked and a huge ball of fur, slime, and crunched bones dropped out of the snake's extended mouth and plopped into the cauldron.

I scrunched up my face and muttered, "That was unpleasant."

Tom, again, threw the snake away and pulled out one of the soul stones – the white and pink colored one – from his inner robe pocket. He put his hand holding the stone close to the simmering potion, which was now becoming extremely thick and gooey with lumps here and there. With a moment of hesitation, he finally opened his fist and let the stone fall into the potion. It made a squishy sound mixed with the pop of a bubble.

A flash of color and a huge explosion of steam burst out of the cauldron. Tom and I took a step back, and instinctively I went to stand close to his side. The steam magically took the shape of the rabbit that we had killed months ago. Within the next instant it dispersed away into the air. Slowly, Tom and I made our way back to see what was happening inside the cauldron.

The mossy green, lumpy potion was now a pitch-black mass of slime, randomly stretching and convulsing. Slowly it began to get smaller and more solid as it writhed into position. Then it started to solidify into a more distinguishable figure, not unlike a rabbit's small body. It was still black and appeared gelatinous until all of the once potion pulled itself together off the sides and floors of the cauldron. Finally, the thing shuddered and two ears popped out of one side with four legs emerging from the bottom. White fur started sprouting all around the black solid and within a minute a full-fledged white rabbit was hopping around an empty cauldron.

My eyes peered at Tom, who was also leaning over the cauldron with me. His eyes were wide and excited while a small smile curled itself on his lips. He watched it hop around a few more times when he finally looked at me and said, "Well, get it out of there. Let's see how it does."

I bent down to pull it out, but it was rather quick. After a few failed attempts I thrust my hands around its body and yanked it out. Immediately it started to claw and nip at me with teeth. I didn't expect it, since I wasn't around rabbits very often and tossed it away from me into the grass. Tom didn't pay me any mind, and I looked at my bloody and scratched hands annoyed. Pulling out my wand to heal the wounds, I watched as Tom trailed the rabbit around the field of grass surrounded by our main house, his study, and the outhouse. As we watched, I noticed that our breezy morning had ceased and the weather was becoming more hot with the sun's rays breathing down our necks.

The rabbit started out hopping very well, and it seemed completely normal. However, after five or so minutes it started to lose energy. Within another five minutes, it stopped and began cleaning its fur. Huge patches of white came loose as the rabbit aggressively bit at its hind leg. I slowly came up next to Tom, who was a few feet behind it, and said quietly, "Is it supposed to do that?"

He shushed me viciously. Within the next moment he used his mind to open the study door (which currently was a few yards to our left) and out flew a notebook and quill, freshly dipped. Immediately he began taking notes on the rabbit's progression. I didn't know what else to do but watch. It was getting hotter, and I took my hat of my head and transfigured myself a makeshift fan out of it. The rabbit stopped its biting and decided to hop around some more, but it seemed as if it was inebriated. It just went in circles and would stop and fall over occasionally. I was very worried about our spell, since it did not seem like it had worked.

I hadn't the heart to say my thoughts out loud however.

The rabbit picked itself up for the sixth time and was determined to make it towards the forest and escape our watchful eyes. Tom whispered to me, "Pick it up and bring it in the house. I don't want it to escape – I need to take more notes."

I rolled my eyes. Of course I was the one that had to pick up the little bugger. It was so slow this time, grabbing it was easy. It tried to fight, but it was no use. We made our way inside the house, which was much cooler than outside. I slowly let it go onto the ground and I heard Tom close the door behind him. The rabbit didn't do much better inside. It began to act worse, almost deteriorating. It was Sunday so I finished my cleaning inside the house and made us a late lunch. It took almost an hour, and by the time the soup was ready, the rabbit was panting on the ground, barely able to breath much less keep its eyes open.

As I poured out the fresh vegetable and barley soup into the bowls, the rabbit gave up the struggle and died. Right away, the body turned back into the black gelatinous material. It soon melted into the greeny liquid and faded into a puddle on the packed dirt floor. Tom had been sitting on the edge of the bed scribbling in his notebook furiously up until that point. While I went to set the table with silverware, Tom stared blankly at the pile of goo that had once been our white rabbit. With a thump he threw the notebook and quill onto the floor and began cursing loudly. Tom flew into a rage and started stamping the potion remains with his black work shoes. I stood their awkwardly at the table, not knowing whether to announce dinner was ready or to wait for his tantrum to be done with.

I could understand his frustration. I was frustrated too that it didn't work, especially after doing everything without the help of magic. Well, I had duplicated those buckets to carry the water, but I was absolutely certain that had nothing to do with the rabbit keeling over dead. Tom had still not explained to me what the purpose was of experimenting on these animals, but I had a nagging feeling it had to do with his split soul.

Finally Tom gave a final, tired stomp and muttered a swear. Slowly I said, "We can always try again. There is still daylight left – "

"No," he said cutting me off, staring at the mush in the now muddy floor. "We'll try next week."

He sounded disappointed, and I felt a bit of sympathy for him. I knew he didn't give two shakes of a hippogriff's tail about the rabbit, but our undertaking had failed. Tom was not used to failing, like normal people were. He walked towards the chair at the table where his bowl of soup was sitting with a trail of steam floating into the air. I immediately went over to the pile to clean it up, but Tom called out to me, "Leave it."

I turned back to look at him. He was sitting, but his elbows were propped on the table and his fingers were rubbing his temples in agitation. I walked back to him and put my hands reassuringly on his shoulders. At least I could comfort him now, which was something. He pulled his hands away from his head and clenched them into fists on the table with the soup between them, untouched. I heard him begin to mumble under his breath but I could only catch bits and pieces.

"…something missing…do it at night rather…check the planets again…maybe try the bear next time…"

While slightly leaning over him, I gently laid a hand onto his fist. He had stopped muttering. "Don't be hard on yourself. We'll get more animals, and we will make it work."

He gave a short sigh. Tom opened his fist and twisted it so he held my hand. Firmly, he said, "We need to practice on humans."

Shocked by his words, I gripped his hand. "What do you mean, my lord? Take their souls?"

"Of course," he replied calmly as he turned in his chair to me. I moved closer to the table so we could see each other face to face but I didn't let go of his hand. "I have one or two human soul stones just for the occasion."

"No! Murder people, is that what you're saying?"

Tom's eyes narrowed showing his displeasure with me. "We need to use humans because I am a human. All of this work is to practice making me a new body. And you dare to question me?"

I swallowed nervously. Animals were one thing to kill, but the idea of practicing on a human soul made me wildly uncomfortable. "I apologize, my lord." He looked down at his soup which was growing colder. He let go of my hand to grab a spoon and started to eat. I had lost my appetite, but I sat at the table with him anyway.

I decided to break the silence that had been growing while Tom ate. My voice cracked slightly but I tried to ignore it. "You said you want a new body. Why is that? Don't you think your body is fine the way it is? I mean – it is fine – it's perfect." My cheeks flushed and I regretted speaking. What had started as a simple question turned into an awkward expose of my feelings for him.

Tom's grey eyes caught mine and the corner of his mouth curled up. "Be as that may, this body is weak. There is a possibility that it could be destroyed. I have made it so that my soul will survive if that happens, but I need you to make a new body for me. And it can't disappear after a couple of hours." His last sentence was flavored with bitterness.

My hand lightly touched his shoulder and caressed his arm in a comforting motion. "I will follow your orders. If that time ever comes, I will make sure it is an even better body than the one you have now." Jokingly I added, "I'll make you even more handsome."

He did not take it as I had hoped. He shook of my hand and glared at his empty bowl. He slammed the spoon, which he was holding, onto the table and said, "No. You are not going to recreate this face. I want something that is going to cause fear at the mere memory of me."

I leaned away from him. His presence was emitting a strong aura of anger. "Why so, my lord? You're scary just the way you are now."

He pushed away from the table and stood up in one quick movement. His face was tight and his eyes were slowly changing from grey to ruby. He bent low over me and pointed at his face. "Because I don't want to look like that dead bastard anymore. It's bad enough I have to share is goddamned name, and now I have his goddamned face!"

He straightened himself and gave a huff. His eyes calmed and he walked to the front door and grumbled about going outside. I sat at the table going over his words long after the door slammed shut. I remembered when he had told me that he killed his father. That was on his birthday almost two years ago. We had lived with each other for a while, and still I didn't know the whole story. What I did know was that his mother must have died alone after giving birth to him and then he ended in up at an orphanage. It must have been a terrible life, not having anyone to love you unconditionally. I cried myself to sleep for many years under a burden of loneliness after my mother died. But I knew what I had missed. Tom never had anything. All of his cruelty and coldness must stem from his utter loneliness. Obviously, since he wants us to practice on other humans, he doesn't give much regard to others – as if they are not real. He even would kill me, the closest person to him. I gave a big sigh and let my head fall onto my crossed arms lying on the table.

Whatever happened between him and his father must have stung him to his core. Even the mention of him made him livid. The only time he enjoyed mentioning him was due to his murder. Then again, I could understand the anger of having your father leave you. I was very young when Aunt H drunkenly admitted that my father had killed himself before I was born. Mum was very upset at her for telling me, but she had to admit the truth to me. Mum always wanted me to think the best of him, as if it was the best for him to die. What kind of thinking was that? Her excuse was that he was confused and it was a terrible mistake, and that if he had lived to see me he wouldn't have done so. But then she went down the same road years later.

But every time Tom looked in the mirror he saw his no good father. I only shared my eye color with my father, and I remember I tried to figure out a way to permanently change it to green. I don't know if I could handle my entire face appearing like him.

Urgently, I felt like giving him a comforting hug. Tom had no one, except for me. I quickly stood up and went outside to look for him. The sun was getting closer to the ocean horizon, but it was still fairly hot and humid outside. I searched near the grassy field where the cauldron still hung above burnt wood but Tom was not there. I went to the other side of our house where there was nothing but a small grass area and cliff. However to the west there was a thin creek that had cut a small canyon through the earth, making a pathway down to a beach a couple miles away. I decided to follow it, and within a couple of minutes I saw Tom's image around a bend in the now steeply piled rocks.

I called out to him, and he turned around staring at me blankly. He did wait for me to catch up to him. His hands were in his pockets and I could see perspiration around his face and neck. I must have been sweating even more since I had to run down to him. Immediately I threw my arms around his upper body. I caught a glimpse of his surprised face before my head laid on his chest. I told him, "It doesn't matter what you look like. I will love you and follow you to the end of the world and back."

He was still for a few seconds. Then he put his arms around me and hugged me. I was so happy cradled in his embrace. I lifted my head to look at him. He close the space between our faces and kissed me. Too soon after, he pushed me off. With a little grin he admitted, "It's too hot out here for your affection, but thank you for the sentiments." I rolled my eyes at him but couldn't keep a smile off my face. He accepted my words of love so awkwardly, but at least he didn't yell at me. With a spark in his eyes he said, "Let's go back home where it's cooler." Then he added while slinking his hands around my waist and tilting his head to examine me, "And we can continue with your displays of affection." I giggled and put an arm around him as we walked back up through the small canyon.