210 wivesbehavingbadly

metaphorically , i had turned my back ." you know , minty , you don't know me very well at all , " he had once accused me .
if only i had taken the time to answer him . if only i had sat down , there and then , and said : " let's talk , nathan . tell me ,"
finding oneself so ordinarily materialistic and without grace at the mercy of such pain , impotence , and ugliness  was bewildering - it wa like being dashed this way and that in a tide as strong as the one peeding back the water from the sand .
eve beckoned to felix . " felix , come . there is something here ." they huddled together and inspected an object in the sand . lucas circled them . he looked cross and sang very loudly .
"look at me ."
long ago in the vistemax office , before the sea change had taken place in me , i told rose , " i don't have a family . who wants one ? i don't have children . why hang a millstone round your neck ?"
now i had a family , and the intolerable weight and size of the millstone tugged and pulled at every bone and muscle .
" mum ...." his white legs flashing under his green shorts , hair pushed back from his forehead by the wind , felix trodover  the shingles toward me with a goosefleshed arm out-stretched . " see what i've got ."
he unclasped his hand to reveal a perfect spiral shell .
after lunch of bread and cheese , the boys were chased upstairs for half an hour's quite reading . i left eve grimly washing up in the sink and complaining of the lack of hot water . got into the car , and went to find provisions .