Ralph and the Pixie

‘Why?’

The words felt strange in her mouth, but she said them. ‘Because If I lose you I won’t be able to stand it! When we were in the Joining something inside me changed. I can’t explain it exactly, but its like I carry a bit of you around inside me now. Don’t you understand? What you are is now part of me. Without you . . . I’ll be lost.’

When they returned to the house, they found Pran waiting for them in the living room.

‘Are you both well?’ he asked them.

The two girls hung at the entrance awkwardly, unable to answer or meet his gaze.

‘Well,’ he said, smiling to ease their discomfort, ‘it’s very early, yet. The two of you should go back to bed. I’ve only risen to warm the house.’

When they crawled back into bed, both were like ice. Entwined together they soon warmed up and fell asleep. Éha dreamt of a warm, sunny day by the pond, and felt as though she had lived for years in darkness. Deborah dreamt of flying.

Above them both rose the sun, and with it came a yearning that had no name, unless it was the crying of gulls or the roar of the distant sea.