Straight No Chaser

Kiwi

rough morning. not sure why i was so tired, since i got a record-breaking seven hours of sleep last night, but i could really, honestly, barely keep my head off the desk through logic class. which is brutal in general; even worse when i'm tired. no more board volunteers, he calls on us in alphabetical order--three or four per class period--which means i've got no real incentive to pay attention till, at earliest, friday. that class is going to kill me twice over.

*****

He knows her cycle as well as he does the tide schedule, but he wants it anyway.

*****

rough afternoon, too. workwise, this semester, i magically ended up with all the shifts no one else was available to do, which is not a bad thing in itself, but means i have no help during those hours. which has its ups--means i don't have to wait my turn to use the computer--and its downs--i have to work with every student who walks in, rather than just half of them. which is technically okay. the positives outweigh the negatives. but i was really, really exhausted this afternoon.

*****

"Day sixteen," she reminds him, frowning as his arm snakes around her waist.

"I know," he says, kissing her. "I know."

*****

rough evening, sort of. class was long and a little redundant. afterward i asked the professor about speaking at marcus's relationship forum in february, tried to present it as attractively as possible (knowing, as i'd told marcus, that he'd probably say no), and he pretty much said no. it wasn't really my responsibility to convince him, but it felt like failure anyway. besides which i don't think i did very well on his quiz today.

*****

She goes to the shelter to check on Kailani while he adds kindling to the fire. Kai is asleep, chubby limbs splayed out across her soft pink blanket, one thumb tucked away in her rosebud mouth. She is tiny and precious and two, diaper-clad and deeply asleep.

Outside, fresh-cleaned clothes hang from a line suspended between two palm trees. Their newly stocked fruit cache hangs in a bundle near the shelter, safe from foragers. The fire is noisy and high.

She steps outside, looks out onto the peaceful ocean. We've mastered this, she thinks. He's waiting. "Okay," she says, sitting beside him in the sand. "Okay."

*****

dinner was a strawberry-kiwi yogurt parfait (delicious). dessert will be marcus, if all goes to plan.