"His hair was marigolds or candle flames....
They were standing on opposite sides of the fallen queen. He lightly set his feet on the stone buttocks and sprang across, and, seized by some eccentric whim in mid air, raised his black p.v.c. arms and flapped them, cawing like a crow. Everything went black in the shocking folds of his embrace. She was very startled and near to sobbing.
'Caw, caw,' echoed his raincoat.
'Don't be frightened,' he said. 'It is only poor Finn, who will do you no harm.'
She recovered herself a little, though she was still trembling. She could see her own face reflected in little in the black pupils of his subaqueous eyes. She still looked the same. She saluted herself. He was only a little taller than she and their eyes were almost on a level. Remotely, she wished him three inches taller. Or four. She felt the warm breath from his wild beast's mouth softly, against her cheek. She did not move. Stiff, wooden and unresponsive, she stood in his arms and watched herself in his eyes. It was a comfort to see herself as she thought she looked.
'Oh, get it over with, get it over with,' she urged furiously under her breath.
He was grinning like Pan in the wood. He kissed her, closing his eyes so that she could not see herself any more. His lips were wet and rough, cracked.It might have been anybody, kissing her, and, besides, she did not know him well, if at all. She wondered why he was doing this, putting his mouth on her own undesiring one, softly moving his body against her. What was the need?"
from The Magic Toyshop
No comments:
Post a Comment