And then she wept some more. She grabbed Mr. Brownbear off his little bed and hugged it until she passed out from the exhaustion of sobbing."Come back...to me, Jakey! Oh God, please make this all just a dream!"The only reply was the cold October wind moaning through the trees outside the window.She didn't take a jacket when she snuck out of the house at 1 am. Pam was asleep on the couch. The TV was blathering quietly to itself about a miracle mop that could wipe up a whole carton of spilled milk. I was irritated, but decided not to make an issue of it. I was aware that our relationship over the past few months was not exactly loving. We tended to get annoyed at each other at the slightest provocation. I wondered where the love and caring had gone.I started to wonder about our marriage. Is this what my future was going to be like? The indifference, the boredom, the lack of any meaningful intimacy, and I don't mean only sexual. For the first time I began to contemplate a future which. It was an awkward moment as she just hesitated.I broke the silence. “So, um, you won the contest again.”“Uh-huh.”That was all she said, and the awkwardness just continued. I tried again. “I saw Sybil’s car outside. Is she here?”“Uh-huh.”That didn’t help much either. I tried once more. “So what’s going on?”She took a deep breath and one last hesitation. “Cinnamon.”That confused me. “What about it?”“Today’s lesson is trust. Do you trust me?”She gave me a slight smile and a relieving chuckle. “You. If so, you've caught a taste of this power, in the same way perhaps that vomiting is catching a taste of delicacy. I haven't noticed how far beyond such vandalism the average person can go. But I do know there are a few of us who have gone far enough that a government, or something worse, has noticed us.She sat alone. I saw that the blouse cloaking her perfect form was slightly diaphanous, cloudy layers inviting lingering attention as I forced my eyes upward. Above, her lips formed a gently.