The lonely ones.
When I first arrived on the island, I had spent several months sleeping underneath a chair in the compound. People had come and gone around me, and I, for the most part, had been unable to make out their words or understand the motive of their journeying. Bu there had at least been people.
When I moved into Bohemia, it had been me, Mimi, and Angel. It had been less like Alexander's campaign and more like the palace and harems of Babylon or Susa--in a strange way, for in other ways it was nothing like anything I knew at all--but it had been familiar. Then Angel had gone, and Mimi had been ill or sad, and while I could certainly compare the experience to things I knew before, I preferred not to. This was our time, and our life, and should not be tainted by any other.
And then Mimi, too, had gone. I understood the need for it as perhaps few others would, for I had been the third, had I not? I had been the second love, wishing desperately that I might someday become the first, and if she had a chance for that, I wanted her to take it.
But when I woke alone at night in the darkness in the home I now had to myself, I wished I were young enough to still be selfish. Even Puta the kitten was gone, and I missed the soft, warm weight of her curled against my feet.
Moonlight caught the cracks in the walls, dotting them with pale places amidst the shadows; a branch outside brushed against the hut with a low, rough scrape. I rose, drawing my undergown around my shoulders, and slipped outside. At least when the skies were the same no matter where I was, I could look up at them and feel not so completely alone.
When I moved into Bohemia, it had been me, Mimi, and Angel. It had been less like Alexander's campaign and more like the palace and harems of Babylon or Susa--in a strange way, for in other ways it was nothing like anything I knew at all--but it had been familiar. Then Angel had gone, and Mimi had been ill or sad, and while I could certainly compare the experience to things I knew before, I preferred not to. This was our time, and our life, and should not be tainted by any other.
And then Mimi, too, had gone. I understood the need for it as perhaps few others would, for I had been the third, had I not? I had been the second love, wishing desperately that I might someday become the first, and if she had a chance for that, I wanted her to take it.
But when I woke alone at night in the darkness in the home I now had to myself, I wished I were young enough to still be selfish. Even Puta the kitten was gone, and I missed the soft, warm weight of her curled against my feet.
Moonlight caught the cracks in the walls, dotting them with pale places amidst the shadows; a branch outside brushed against the hut with a low, rough scrape. I rose, drawing my undergown around my shoulders, and slipped outside. At least when the skies were the same no matter where I was, I could look up at them and feel not so completely alone.