I was learninghow to dance like a woman and the same time I was losing a lot ofweight. I loved it. Anyway, I was dressed in a pink workout tank with...lack tights and pink running shoes. I had my hair (which I had letgrow out) in a ponytail. I was on the pole, which I set up in my attic,dancing to "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls. I was spinning around thepole when I saw Claire standing in the doorway. She looked like she hadjust seen a ghost. I didn't know what to say at first, but. A flash of lightening is followed by a deafening thunderclap, and then, his ears still ringing with that sound, some strange noises he cannot identify, then the deluge drowns out their echo. After a while, as swiftly as the thunderstorm and the pouring rain had arrived, they end. He comes out of the cave, to see not far away from him, below, splayed out on a rock and half immersed in the water of the now swollen stream, the broken remnants of a carriage, with two dead horses, in their. But some kind of noise outsidewoke me up in the wee hours, and it took me awhile to get back tosleep. I hoped it wasn't raccoons scattering garbage or any such thing.However, that meant it was mid-morning when I finally woke up on the25th. I hadn't had that much for dinner yesterday, and I'd slept pastmy usual breakfast time, so I was hungry. I knew that I at least hadcereal and eggs, so I wasn't going to be scratching something up fromthe dust on the counter, at least. Later on in the day,. She looked nothing like the woman who had walked off the boat a couple of hours earlier. ‘Hi, any problems?’ I asked, noticing the frown on her face. ‘No … not really. Just something that I’ve been expecting and didn’t know how I would feel about it.’ ‘Okay,’ I said, deciding not to pursue the unspoken question. She flopped herself down on the bench in the galley, placing a large manila envelope on the table. ‘Would you like a coffee or a beer?’ I asked. ‘Beer … thanks.’ I opened two and passed.