Of sure," I said.

Chapter 2: Before me, she knelt down. The light cotton of her nightgown, which was covered in mud, stuck to her while soaking up the rain. She was trembling, as I could see. You want to learn a secret, little one?

My lips trembled as I nodded. I simply couldn't stop crying.

"Only when you're the one watching do I enjoy dancing. It only feels authentic at that moment.

She stood up after encircling my hands in her own. She swayed and shoved my face into her belly. She was speaking softly in my ear. She said words like, "You're my everything," and "I wouldn't be here without you," which assaulted my nostrils with the acidic scent of red wine. She 

tried to teach me the steps: left leg forward, right leg to the right, left leg over, and right leg back, but I didn't understand; I didn't understand them. I faltered as I tried to follow along as she slipped the instructions in between "I love you's". I continued to look at them while they

It hurt to see our bare feet bury themselves in the grass. I pictured how I would look as a grownup with her by my side, ageless and magnificent as she was then, while her grip was firm on my hand with a small piece of the chandelier dangling between us. The words echoed in my head exactly as she murmured them to me, the gold digging into our joined fingers, and I saw us dancing together till the music ended;

Doesn't growing up hurt, baby?