Occasionally when one of the hens stopped laying eggs they would ring its neck. They told me of how you had to swing it very fast to break the neck qu...ckly and not inflict too much pain on the animal. It may seem brutal, but it was a necessity of life in those days. And if you could have heard them talk of it, you would realize the respect for life that they had…even a chicken’s life that had kept their children alive during the worst of times. Those occasions were ‘high eatin’ as they would. As I got ready for bed, he called me over to look at a particularly good shot several times. I was thrilled for him, of course. Snuggled underneath the covers, I had a beautiful view of Brian’s profile at the hotel room’s small little dining table. His face glowed in the soft light of the computer screen and I thought about how handsome he was, absorbed in his work. I stared at his strong hands dancing across the keyboard and my mind drifted to the leisurely and pleasurable morning we had. About 2AM we returned to her house after several hours of dancing and drinking and we were both ready to crash. As we walked down the hall towards the bedrooms I asked her where I shoild sleep. She opened the door to her bedroom and said "You can sleep in here, my bed has plenty of room."I was speechless for a moment, expecting to use one of the other rooms, not share her's! I said "OK, if that works for you it's good for me." She turned down the covers then began undressing at the side of the. ‘I’m so sorry about how I acted…the things I said.’ Ana’s hair swept the side of his neck as she nodded repeatedly. He wanted to haul her body up against his but didn’t dare. The reddish shadow peeking out under the wide dress strap reminded him to be careful. He settled for burying one hand in her silky waves while the other grazed the curve of her back. Ana rubbed his back and pressed into the crook of his neck, seeking as much contact as her injured shoulder allowed. The weight he’d been.