I pulled down my jean shorts and lifted my shirt over my head.

But if they don’t, I have one more reason to want to live in the palace with him rather than convincing him to move into my apartment.

I ran my hand over the topography of the bedspread. There were river valleys and mountain communities. There was smooth desert tundra. There was a city, and in that city, there was a beauty salon.

I brushed my new short hair with the same long strokes I had used for my old hair, accidentally hitting the brush against my shoulders. It was a delicate, new strangeness, and I held on to it like a candle, hoping it would lead me to an even newer, stranger strangeness.

I could feel the accordion between my hands and how impressed he would be if I said yes.

I kissed the backs of his legs and they sang.

Even a duck or a bear looks civilized when clothed. I pulled down my jean shorts and lifted my shirt over my head.

It seemed incredibly dangerous to look into each other’s eyes, but we were doing it. For how long can you behold another person? Before you have to think of yourself again, like dipping the brush back in for more ink.

The dark shape wept in the incredibly sad way that only air can cry,