He says the men spoke gently to her. Asked her to turn. They are used to the turns love takes. The woman wonders how long the bruises would show. How much longer every touch would hurt.
Bodies come together and spin free, wheeling off into time's inexplicable curve.
The universe as a loaf of bread rising. Bonehead Astronomy, she remembers. Physics for the simple, who understand what they touch. Star bright, but the sky is full of stars tonight and she can't say which first caught her eye. Star light, it carries old news quickly, the message changing with distance, the speed of retreat.