Enough Time - Chapter 3
Genre: AU - Not Dead Jack
Summary: Based on the premise of the film Groundhog Day. Ennis relives one day over and over until he gets it right.
Update schedule: Every Friday until June 20th. Thanks to rt_in_town for beta help and encouragement.
Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
He awoke to snow. After staring up at the canvas for a few moments, he felt in his left pocket for the horse but it wasn't there. It was in the right one. The three grooves were gone. It really was a brand new day.
His toes were freezing as usual, so he sat up and pulled off his boots, then tucked his feet under one of the dogs to warm them and wrapped the blanket more tightly around himself. There was no point getting up immediately. The snow would stop, the sun would come out and melt what had stuck to the ground in an hour or so. And he didn't want to meet Aguirre again. He turned the wood horse in his fingers and wondered if he'd made the legs and neck too short. He glanced at one of the blue heelers and decided carving a dog would be simpler. The sound of the lost ewe bleating reached their ears and they stirred. One of them bolted out of the tent and the other settled back into the warm nest. Ennis studied her head as he shaped the lump of birch wood.
When the sun appeared he'd made enough progress with the knife that the wood no longer resembled a horse. He carried on carving a bit longer. There was no risk of meeting Aguirre now, but he was nervous about going to Jack. He'd hurt him worse than ever the previous day, and wasn't sure what to do to avoid that. He returned the wood and the knife to his pocket and crawled out of the tent to go through the usual routine. After he'd checked on the flock, he packed up the pup tent and headed down.
When he arrived at the camp site, the tent was rolled up and piled with everything else near the mule. Jack was sitting on the chopping block, arms resting on his knees and holding his hat by the brim, watching for him. He didn't move as Ennis rode up, just stared at him unsmiling. Ennis met his gaze and felt heaviness in his chest. He had to remind himself that Jack was dejected about having to leave - Ennis hadn't hurt him yet. The first day, Jack had given him the news matter-of-factly and by this time Ennis had come to realize that Jack hadn't assumed then that they would have to separate when they left the mountain. Now that Ennis was coming later, Jack must've had time to think things through, so of course he could understand that it wasn't going to be like that. The problem was, how to make the most of this last morning without giving Jack false hope?
As Ennis dismounted, Jack rose and walked over to him, stood close and murmured "Aguirre came by. Another storm's comin. We have to bring 'em down."
Ennis stood dumbly, waiting for guidance from some source. When he could no longer bear inaction, he simply pressed his hands to either side of Jack's face, stepped close and kissed him. Jack's body stiffened in shock and he let go of his hat, his eyes staring wide - Ennis had never taken the initiative in this way, not without roughhousing first. After a few seconds Jack flowed into the kiss, like a strong current. His arms went around Ennis, pushing their groins together and Ennis felt that thing surge up in him, that need that he'd seldom felt when he embraced Alma. He shoved her out of his mind, so that this place would stay pure, and turned them without breaking the kiss, backing Jack slowly towards the meadow. When Jack realized Ennis' intention he pulled away, took his arm and began tugging him in the right direction and then they were running, Ennis slipping out of his grasp and sprinting ahead. When they reached the constellation of blooming columbine Ennis suddenly halted and let Jack stumble into him and then they fell into the grass, laughing.
Ennis crawled onto Jack and kissed him hard, then licked and sucked his way down his body as he pulled open the snaps of his shirt. After he unbucked his belt, Ennis felt Jack's hands push against his in order to hurry along the rest of the unfastening. Jack shoved his jeans down his thighs and made to turn over but Ennis stopped him.
"We don't have nothin and you're gonna be in the saddle all afternoon."
"Whad'ya wanna do, then?".
"This." He took a deep breath and lowered his head to take Jack in, hesitantly. It was only the second time he'd done this and he felt nervous. When he was fucking Jack he could see they were alone but like this, his field of vision limited to his stomach, he imagined eyes on him. And he couldn't pretend he was doing something else, either. But he had to compensate Jack for the pain inflicted yesterday, for the hurt awaiting him later that day. Like the other time, he tried to copy what Jack had done to him that had felt so good. As soon as he closed his lips around the smooth head and let his tongue swirl around it, Jack yelled his name so loud Ennis flinched and nearly bit him. But then Jack was making all the right noises and that encouraged him in every way.
Afterwards, they lay entwined in the sun. Again, the shadow fell across Ennis' face but Jack didn't speak. Ennis opened one eye.
"Ennis."
"Yeah?"
"What if we look round for some work on a ranch for a month or two when we get down? I could use the money."
Ennis tried to imagine working side by side with Jack with people around, sleeping in a bunkhouse with other men snoring in beds next to them. It made his gut ache to think of it. He just wanted to lie with him here in the grass forever. What if this was the way it would always go? He sighed. That didn't seem like such a bad prospect compared to the alternative. But Jack only had this one day.
"Yeah Ennis," Jack went on, seeming to take his sigh to mean yes. "We both got time. Find us a place that'll take us both, maybe right into winter and then -"
"It ain't gonna be that way, Jack." Ennis sat up and put on his hat. "How can we be together round other people? If this thing grabs hold of us, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, we're dead."
Jack stared at him. "What're you talkin about, dead?"
"Used to be these two old guys ranchin up together near us, Rich and Earl. Everybody joked about 'em, even though they was a coupla tough old birds. When I was about nine they found Earl in a ditch, beat to death, dick pulled off." Ennis made himself stop ripping the wild columbine flowers from their stems.
"You saw him?" Jack whispered.
"My daddy made sure of it. For all I know he done the job."
"But that don't mean-"
"Means a guy can get killed and left in a ditch cause a doin what we do. That's the bottom line." He closed his fist around a clump of grass and flowers and wrenched them away from the rest of the turf. He blinked his stinging eyes and felt Jack's fingers stroke his cheek. Despite himself, he leaned into the touch.
The next few hours spun out almost identically to the very first day, except that while they were watching the Basques count the sheep and listening to Aguirre fume at them, Ennis looked to the right instead of the left and noticed the old man with the long mustache studying him and Jack. The man glanced at Aguirre and then back at Ennis, and he could swear the guy rolled his eyes. It wasn't much but it made him feel a little better, like maybe they weren't complete fuckups.
At the truck Ennis didn't even wait until Jack got in before opening the hood. "Better check the carburator. Might not start after all these weeks." He reached in and fiddled for a few seconds, then let the hood drop with a clunk. Jack turned the ignition and the engine turned over after a short stutter.
Jack shook his head and grinned at him through the windshield. "You oughta look for work as a mechanic."
Ennis shrugged and looked at the ground, hands in his jacket pockets. He felt the wood and the knife under his fingers and wondered if, with daily practice, he could manage to carve the whole dog in an hour. Jack liked dogs. The silence stretched out. Finally Jack slammed the door hard.
"Well, guess I'll see ya round, then," Jack said, staring at Ennis, letting his bitterness show. He revved the motor and Ennis had to jump aside as Jack pulled away abruptly. Ennis watched the truck disappear down the road. The man who'd looked at him in the alley the first day walked past. "Man in a hurry," he remarked, looking at Ennis and tilted his head toward the receding truck. Ennis waited a few minutes until the man rounded the corner and then trudged down the street to the junction. The truck with the talkative driver hurtled past. Ennis stood with his hands in his pockets and listened to the plain settle back into companionable silence with its partner the wind. He watched a black speck in the distance grow slowly larger and felt his heart begin to thud when he discerned the form of the truck. When he could make out the license plate though, he knew it wasn't Jack.
"Thanks. Goin to Riverton."
"I'm going near to there."
Ennis slumped against the door and watched the prairie unfurl beside them as the truck rattled its way along the straight road. For the first time he wondered where Jack was going and how he ended this day.
"You have been herding sheep?"
"You can smell 'em, huh?"
"I did that with my cousin once, a long time ago."
"Guess I'll only do it once, too."
"You don't like the work?"
Ennis watched the road, wondering whether to say it. If he did he wouldn't really be committing himself, since this man was a stranger, though he was becoming very familiar. "I'm gettin married in November."
"Who is the lucky girl?" The man was reaching for his cigarettes. Ennis watched him go through the same routine as the previous day, taking the whole pack from his pocket, then extracting and lighting up with one hand. He didn't offer Ennis a smoke, however, which disappointed him for some reason. Lucky girl. He frowned. What did luck have to do with marriage?
"Uh, gal I met in Riverton. Works in a store with my brother's wife. Her name's Alma."
The man smoked silently, resting his left hand on the open window between puffs. After a minute he said, "It means soul in Spanish. Alma. She is your soul mate, then?"
"What's that?" he asked, just to hear what the man would say.
"Someone who is like you and not like you. Who understands you. Who..." he paused and took a long drag on the cigarette. "Well, you know what a soul is, and a mate, so..." The man's voice had grown hoarse.
"Yeah, I guess I know."
A meadow with flowers sparkling in the sun.
They didn't speak again until they reached the Esso station.
"Is this far enough?"
"Fine. Thanks."
Ennis walked through town in the failing light. As he turned the corner to his brother's street, he spotted KE's car pulling up outside his home near the far end of the block. KE got out and looked toward the house, and from the exaggerated way he smiled and waved Ennis guessed he was greeting his baby daughter. He slammed the car door, strode to the sidewalk and bounded up the porch stairs. By the time Ennis reached the house, KE was inside. Through the lighted window he could see his brother had his arm around Peggy, who was holding their baby, and he watched as they kissed each other in greeting. A mixture of longing and envy washed over him as he studied this tableau of domestic contentment. He observed them for a few moments, then turned away, not ready to cut into their scene. It was dark now and he began walking with no destination in mind, just letting some time pass until he knew Peggy would be taking a bath and he could talk to KE. But after a few minutes he realized he was heading toward the Beers' side of town. When he saw their house - bigger than KE's but far from spacious - he slowed down and stopped to stare through the front window. Alma's mother was knitting on the couch while Mr. Beers stood by the fireplace winding the clock that sat on the mantelpiece, as he did every evening at nine o'clock. Just then he heard the porch swing creak.
"Ennis Del Mar!" Alma's voice startled him as she burst from the shadows, then skipped down the steps and threw herself into his arms. Her slight form collided with his body with only a little more force than that of the blue heeler that always hurled herself at Jack whenever he came up to the sheep. As he bent to embrace her, Ennis smiled at the memory of Jack's laughter as he let the dog knock him over.
"Oh I missed you, too!" Alma sighed. He felt a stab of guilt then, that Jack came into his thoughts even at this moment, at those words. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his, her eyes closed. He'd seen few movies in his life, but enough of them to realize she was imitating a screen kiss. Like that one in the film his mother had taken them to see a month before the accident; the one about the Civil War and the saucy dark haired woman who loved the quiet blond man who married someone else... so she'd married a rich man who loved her but still she pined for the other. And there was that terrible scene with her and the doctor and the wounded soldier, where the camera moved back to show hundreds of dying men moaning on the ground... Had his mind always wandered like this when he kissed Alma?
"Ennis, did you just get back this minute?" Alma had broken the kiss abruptly and was screwing up her nose. "It's sweet you came to see me first thing... but...maybe you need to take a shower?"
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I'll come by early tomorrow, when I'm cleaned up." How easy it was to make a promise when he was sure he wouldn't have to make good on it! In fact, he could say anything, ask any question... the slate would be wiped clean the next day.
"Oh, I didn't mean... Ennis, you can still..." But he had pulled away from her embrace. Without replying he turned and hurried back up the street, anxious to find KE alone. He needed an answer to a question. As he made his way across town, he pondered: when he woke in the tent in the morning as he was bound to do, and then rode down to Jack, would Alma be waiting for him to appear at her door somewhere? Once again, he wondered where Jack went each evening after they separated, and what he did, believing he would never see Ennis again. He remembered his own first evening off the mountain, holed up in the bar drinking beer after beer, mourning the lost month while hoping that the next day he would have forgotten the whole summer.
When KE answered the door he was holding Melissa upside down and the evening played out like the first time. But Ennis couldn't work up the courage to ask his question. When his brother and Peggy sat together on the couch with their daughter, and that longing came over him, he realized that it was the baby he envied most of all. KE asked about the other shepherd, and he mouthed the same words about Jack.
"You made a friend then," said Peggy.
He looked away, his eyes stinging, and mumbled, "Better go take a shower."
As the warm water cascaded down his back, he ran the bar of soap over his arms and down his chest, rubbing hard and building up the suds into deep, white drifts over the swells of his muscles. The floral fragrance filled the bathroom, blunting the tang of sheep and sweat and smoke he'd lived with for all those months, smothering the scent of heaven and of freedom.
.
Summary: Based on the premise of the film Groundhog Day. Ennis relives one day over and over until he gets it right.
Update schedule: Every Friday until June 20th. Thanks to rt_in_town for beta help and encouragement.
Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8
He awoke to snow. After staring up at the canvas for a few moments, he felt in his left pocket for the horse but it wasn't there. It was in the right one. The three grooves were gone. It really was a brand new day.
His toes were freezing as usual, so he sat up and pulled off his boots, then tucked his feet under one of the dogs to warm them and wrapped the blanket more tightly around himself. There was no point getting up immediately. The snow would stop, the sun would come out and melt what had stuck to the ground in an hour or so. And he didn't want to meet Aguirre again. He turned the wood horse in his fingers and wondered if he'd made the legs and neck too short. He glanced at one of the blue heelers and decided carving a dog would be simpler. The sound of the lost ewe bleating reached their ears and they stirred. One of them bolted out of the tent and the other settled back into the warm nest. Ennis studied her head as he shaped the lump of birch wood.
When the sun appeared he'd made enough progress with the knife that the wood no longer resembled a horse. He carried on carving a bit longer. There was no risk of meeting Aguirre now, but he was nervous about going to Jack. He'd hurt him worse than ever the previous day, and wasn't sure what to do to avoid that. He returned the wood and the knife to his pocket and crawled out of the tent to go through the usual routine. After he'd checked on the flock, he packed up the pup tent and headed down.
When he arrived at the camp site, the tent was rolled up and piled with everything else near the mule. Jack was sitting on the chopping block, arms resting on his knees and holding his hat by the brim, watching for him. He didn't move as Ennis rode up, just stared at him unsmiling. Ennis met his gaze and felt heaviness in his chest. He had to remind himself that Jack was dejected about having to leave - Ennis hadn't hurt him yet. The first day, Jack had given him the news matter-of-factly and by this time Ennis had come to realize that Jack hadn't assumed then that they would have to separate when they left the mountain. Now that Ennis was coming later, Jack must've had time to think things through, so of course he could understand that it wasn't going to be like that. The problem was, how to make the most of this last morning without giving Jack false hope?
As Ennis dismounted, Jack rose and walked over to him, stood close and murmured "Aguirre came by. Another storm's comin. We have to bring 'em down."
Ennis stood dumbly, waiting for guidance from some source. When he could no longer bear inaction, he simply pressed his hands to either side of Jack's face, stepped close and kissed him. Jack's body stiffened in shock and he let go of his hat, his eyes staring wide - Ennis had never taken the initiative in this way, not without roughhousing first. After a few seconds Jack flowed into the kiss, like a strong current. His arms went around Ennis, pushing their groins together and Ennis felt that thing surge up in him, that need that he'd seldom felt when he embraced Alma. He shoved her out of his mind, so that this place would stay pure, and turned them without breaking the kiss, backing Jack slowly towards the meadow. When Jack realized Ennis' intention he pulled away, took his arm and began tugging him in the right direction and then they were running, Ennis slipping out of his grasp and sprinting ahead. When they reached the constellation of blooming columbine Ennis suddenly halted and let Jack stumble into him and then they fell into the grass, laughing.
Ennis crawled onto Jack and kissed him hard, then licked and sucked his way down his body as he pulled open the snaps of his shirt. After he unbucked his belt, Ennis felt Jack's hands push against his in order to hurry along the rest of the unfastening. Jack shoved his jeans down his thighs and made to turn over but Ennis stopped him.
"We don't have nothin and you're gonna be in the saddle all afternoon."
"Whad'ya wanna do, then?".
"This." He took a deep breath and lowered his head to take Jack in, hesitantly. It was only the second time he'd done this and he felt nervous. When he was fucking Jack he could see they were alone but like this, his field of vision limited to his stomach, he imagined eyes on him. And he couldn't pretend he was doing something else, either. But he had to compensate Jack for the pain inflicted yesterday, for the hurt awaiting him later that day. Like the other time, he tried to copy what Jack had done to him that had felt so good. As soon as he closed his lips around the smooth head and let his tongue swirl around it, Jack yelled his name so loud Ennis flinched and nearly bit him. But then Jack was making all the right noises and that encouraged him in every way.
Afterwards, they lay entwined in the sun. Again, the shadow fell across Ennis' face but Jack didn't speak. Ennis opened one eye.
"Ennis."
"Yeah?"
"What if we look round for some work on a ranch for a month or two when we get down? I could use the money."
Ennis tried to imagine working side by side with Jack with people around, sleeping in a bunkhouse with other men snoring in beds next to them. It made his gut ache to think of it. He just wanted to lie with him here in the grass forever. What if this was the way it would always go? He sighed. That didn't seem like such a bad prospect compared to the alternative. But Jack only had this one day.
"Yeah Ennis," Jack went on, seeming to take his sigh to mean yes. "We both got time. Find us a place that'll take us both, maybe right into winter and then -"
"It ain't gonna be that way, Jack." Ennis sat up and put on his hat. "How can we be together round other people? If this thing grabs hold of us, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, we're dead."
Jack stared at him. "What're you talkin about, dead?"
"Used to be these two old guys ranchin up together near us, Rich and Earl. Everybody joked about 'em, even though they was a coupla tough old birds. When I was about nine they found Earl in a ditch, beat to death, dick pulled off." Ennis made himself stop ripping the wild columbine flowers from their stems.
"You saw him?" Jack whispered.
"My daddy made sure of it. For all I know he done the job."
"But that don't mean-"
"Means a guy can get killed and left in a ditch cause a doin what we do. That's the bottom line." He closed his fist around a clump of grass and flowers and wrenched them away from the rest of the turf. He blinked his stinging eyes and felt Jack's fingers stroke his cheek. Despite himself, he leaned into the touch.
The next few hours spun out almost identically to the very first day, except that while they were watching the Basques count the sheep and listening to Aguirre fume at them, Ennis looked to the right instead of the left and noticed the old man with the long mustache studying him and Jack. The man glanced at Aguirre and then back at Ennis, and he could swear the guy rolled his eyes. It wasn't much but it made him feel a little better, like maybe they weren't complete fuckups.
At the truck Ennis didn't even wait until Jack got in before opening the hood. "Better check the carburator. Might not start after all these weeks." He reached in and fiddled for a few seconds, then let the hood drop with a clunk. Jack turned the ignition and the engine turned over after a short stutter.
Jack shook his head and grinned at him through the windshield. "You oughta look for work as a mechanic."
Ennis shrugged and looked at the ground, hands in his jacket pockets. He felt the wood and the knife under his fingers and wondered if, with daily practice, he could manage to carve the whole dog in an hour. Jack liked dogs. The silence stretched out. Finally Jack slammed the door hard.
"Well, guess I'll see ya round, then," Jack said, staring at Ennis, letting his bitterness show. He revved the motor and Ennis had to jump aside as Jack pulled away abruptly. Ennis watched the truck disappear down the road. The man who'd looked at him in the alley the first day walked past. "Man in a hurry," he remarked, looking at Ennis and tilted his head toward the receding truck. Ennis waited a few minutes until the man rounded the corner and then trudged down the street to the junction. The truck with the talkative driver hurtled past. Ennis stood with his hands in his pockets and listened to the plain settle back into companionable silence with its partner the wind. He watched a black speck in the distance grow slowly larger and felt his heart begin to thud when he discerned the form of the truck. When he could make out the license plate though, he knew it wasn't Jack.
"Thanks. Goin to Riverton."
"I'm going near to there."
Ennis slumped against the door and watched the prairie unfurl beside them as the truck rattled its way along the straight road. For the first time he wondered where Jack was going and how he ended this day.
"You have been herding sheep?"
"You can smell 'em, huh?"
"I did that with my cousin once, a long time ago."
"Guess I'll only do it once, too."
"You don't like the work?"
Ennis watched the road, wondering whether to say it. If he did he wouldn't really be committing himself, since this man was a stranger, though he was becoming very familiar. "I'm gettin married in November."
"Who is the lucky girl?" The man was reaching for his cigarettes. Ennis watched him go through the same routine as the previous day, taking the whole pack from his pocket, then extracting and lighting up with one hand. He didn't offer Ennis a smoke, however, which disappointed him for some reason. Lucky girl. He frowned. What did luck have to do with marriage?
"Uh, gal I met in Riverton. Works in a store with my brother's wife. Her name's Alma."
The man smoked silently, resting his left hand on the open window between puffs. After a minute he said, "It means soul in Spanish. Alma. She is your soul mate, then?"
"What's that?" he asked, just to hear what the man would say.
"Someone who is like you and not like you. Who understands you. Who..." he paused and took a long drag on the cigarette. "Well, you know what a soul is, and a mate, so..." The man's voice had grown hoarse.
"Yeah, I guess I know."
A meadow with flowers sparkling in the sun.
They didn't speak again until they reached the Esso station.
"Is this far enough?"
"Fine. Thanks."
Ennis walked through town in the failing light. As he turned the corner to his brother's street, he spotted KE's car pulling up outside his home near the far end of the block. KE got out and looked toward the house, and from the exaggerated way he smiled and waved Ennis guessed he was greeting his baby daughter. He slammed the car door, strode to the sidewalk and bounded up the porch stairs. By the time Ennis reached the house, KE was inside. Through the lighted window he could see his brother had his arm around Peggy, who was holding their baby, and he watched as they kissed each other in greeting. A mixture of longing and envy washed over him as he studied this tableau of domestic contentment. He observed them for a few moments, then turned away, not ready to cut into their scene. It was dark now and he began walking with no destination in mind, just letting some time pass until he knew Peggy would be taking a bath and he could talk to KE. But after a few minutes he realized he was heading toward the Beers' side of town. When he saw their house - bigger than KE's but far from spacious - he slowed down and stopped to stare through the front window. Alma's mother was knitting on the couch while Mr. Beers stood by the fireplace winding the clock that sat on the mantelpiece, as he did every evening at nine o'clock. Just then he heard the porch swing creak.
"Ennis Del Mar!" Alma's voice startled him as she burst from the shadows, then skipped down the steps and threw herself into his arms. Her slight form collided with his body with only a little more force than that of the blue heeler that always hurled herself at Jack whenever he came up to the sheep. As he bent to embrace her, Ennis smiled at the memory of Jack's laughter as he let the dog knock him over.
"Oh I missed you, too!" Alma sighed. He felt a stab of guilt then, that Jack came into his thoughts even at this moment, at those words. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his head down and pressed her lips to his, her eyes closed. He'd seen few movies in his life, but enough of them to realize she was imitating a screen kiss. Like that one in the film his mother had taken them to see a month before the accident; the one about the Civil War and the saucy dark haired woman who loved the quiet blond man who married someone else... so she'd married a rich man who loved her but still she pined for the other. And there was that terrible scene with her and the doctor and the wounded soldier, where the camera moved back to show hundreds of dying men moaning on the ground... Had his mind always wandered like this when he kissed Alma?
"Ennis, did you just get back this minute?" Alma had broken the kiss abruptly and was screwing up her nose. "It's sweet you came to see me first thing... but...maybe you need to take a shower?"
"Sorry," he mumbled. "I'll come by early tomorrow, when I'm cleaned up." How easy it was to make a promise when he was sure he wouldn't have to make good on it! In fact, he could say anything, ask any question... the slate would be wiped clean the next day.
"Oh, I didn't mean... Ennis, you can still..." But he had pulled away from her embrace. Without replying he turned and hurried back up the street, anxious to find KE alone. He needed an answer to a question. As he made his way across town, he pondered: when he woke in the tent in the morning as he was bound to do, and then rode down to Jack, would Alma be waiting for him to appear at her door somewhere? Once again, he wondered where Jack went each evening after they separated, and what he did, believing he would never see Ennis again. He remembered his own first evening off the mountain, holed up in the bar drinking beer after beer, mourning the lost month while hoping that the next day he would have forgotten the whole summer.
When KE answered the door he was holding Melissa upside down and the evening played out like the first time. But Ennis couldn't work up the courage to ask his question. When his brother and Peggy sat together on the couch with their daughter, and that longing came over him, he realized that it was the baby he envied most of all. KE asked about the other shepherd, and he mouthed the same words about Jack.
"You made a friend then," said Peggy.
He looked away, his eyes stinging, and mumbled, "Better go take a shower."
As the warm water cascaded down his back, he ran the bar of soap over his arms and down his chest, rubbing hard and building up the suds into deep, white drifts over the swells of his muscles. The floral fragrance filled the bathroom, blunting the tang of sheep and sweat and smoke he'd lived with for all those months, smothering the scent of heaven and of freedom.
.