PERSEPHONE

My uncle noticed my glance. I felt embarrassed, wanted

to leave, I couldn’t. He was turned on his back; he had

lowered his flannel and although his chest was dark and

his flannel snow-white you had the impression that a dark

curtain was pulled over something very bright and

dangerous. That way, then, my uncle, with the bed-sheet

pulled up to his chin, had a beautiful smile despite his

fever. You could feel his feet up to their roots under

the bed-sheet. I walked out of the room. I didn’t see him

again for all the time he stayed home. I was out in

the fields.