THE CONTRACT


Loathe to admit that when we left the lakeside something drastic had happened. You stepped out of the ring and walked away, the ring that had encompassed your entire life. And I dared you on, though I was left desolate, a state I dreaded and looked forward to at the same time. But sometime I too had to take that first step, to wander abroad among the birds and beasts, feel the warmth of their flesh close to mine. That was just the beginning, even if we never got beyond that point of an infinite series of possibilities and dreams arriving at this bare home.