Excerpt

The Chief of Security was hesitant to drink alcohol while on duty. But after he studied the label on the wine bottle and recognized that it was an expensive brand, he decided to at least taste a bit. The boy listened to the fizz coming from his glass of soda pop as he watched Lisa, noting how different she was here, how alive and energetic. In fact, he was noting once again how lovely she was, and felt embarrassed at how pleased he was to be in her presence. It was a new feeling for him—very powerful, mixed with the danger of the unknown and a sense of vulnerability that was alien to his self-possessed poise.

“What in the world did you do out here?” wondered the chief looking about the room and seeing the stacks of papers in the adjoining office.

Lisa explained the duties of maintaining an outpost for the Government Center, doing her best to make it sound like her father was doing important work. However, the silence of her guests indicated that she had not entirely succeeded. She tried to infect them with her enthusiasm for her home as she showed them the office and upstairs bedrooms. Finally she realized that her guests must be hungry. She led them back to the kitchen and set out a loaf of bread and some cheese, apologizing for the lack of supplies. She continued to talk excitedly while they ate in silence.

The chief and the boy had no idea what to make of this situation. They did not want to hurt the girl’s feelings, but they were stunned by the isolation and the silence. However, as the wine bottle grew emptier, the chief began to see a certain charm to the place and a kind of tranquility and relationship to the outdoors that he only experienced on those rare fishing trip vacations. He also found himself beginning to feel a little protective about the girl. She was so apparently at home out here in the wilderness but also so obviously vulnerable to all the dangers that might exist here. The Cathedral, by contrast, was a place of certainty and safety, entirely free of danger to this girl.

After their brief dinner, Lisa took out another bottle of wine for the chief. They all agreed that they would have to stay overnight because extricating themselves from the thorn tree forest at night would be impossible. The chief, by this time, was completely content with the solution. It would be easy to defend the decision to his superiors back at the Cathedral. Besides, he was growing drowsy, and the couch in the office looked quite inviting to him.

Lisa took the boy’s hand and said, “Come on,” as though speaking to her child. She led him upstairs to one of the bedrooms where he stood and watched with not a thought in his head while Lisa pulled back the covers on the bed. The boy was inexperienced in these matters but knew that this was an occasion that might call upon some sort of sexual competence. But he still had no idea what was really going on. Lisa sat on the edge of the bed and took off her shoes. She rolled over onto the bed and fluffed up her pillow. She looked at the boy standing there at a loss and said, “Come here,” patting the sheets next to her.

The boy sat down stiffly, took off his shoes and laid himself down on his back next to her. She pulled up the covers over them both, and tucked him in like a child.

“Now what?” said the boy, not sure he was ready for the answer.

Lisa leaned over to him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Now we go to sleep,” she said as she turned on her side with her back to him and snuggled down into the bed and pillows. She was, after all, a Sleeping Princess, and this was one of her favorite activities.

The boy lay there staring at the ceiling, watching the room grow darker as night descended about them. He listened to the barely perceptible sound of the princess’ gentle breathing, already on her way to a deep slumber. He had no comparable experience with which to judge his presence there. Nor had he ever read of anything like this. He turned on his side to look at the princess. He could sense her warmth and a soft glowing presence. He reached out with his hand to touch a few strands of her hair.

After sudden spring snow storms, the clouds break and separate, revealing unexpected blue skies. In the fresh, cool air, silver crystals of snowflakes are suspended nearly motionless. Examined singly they are marvels of unique crystalline structures, and seen all at once are an enthralling surrounding universe of stars.

And so it was that like an infinitely gentle, softly falling silent snow of exquisite crystals, sleep descended upon the boy and his princess.