Retief
on holiday together when I first arrived in the country. We live in one of the slate~roofed cottages overlooking the sea that dot that ver~ dane, unspoiled landscape below the towering, snow~capped Cordillera Cantabrica. We chop our own wood, tend a vegetable garden, look after a family of dogs. We have grown old together, retired; the table in the living~room is piled up with photo albums. I now spend my days reading books and going for walks, and he spends his puttering about in the shed with his furniture and paintings. Occasionally the phone rings: friends calling to say hi from South Africa, America, or Europe. At night we hold hands just like in the old days. We eat fish stew for supper, followed by steaming mugs of milk.
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FUGUE #28