DATE NIGHT

At dusk, we get out the camouflage paint….. dress all in black…………….. drug the dogs, work our way across the mine field, darting around bikes, toys, dirty socks (ewwwwwwwww) creep up to the 15 ft high stone wall separating us from the outside world….. throw a large hook with a rope attached over the wall….. pull on the rope to check for security……. quietly climb up the rope, to the top… over the edge of the wall.

“Shhhhhhhhhhh, be quiet, we don’t want our captors to hear us.” ………….

Our feet dangle on each side of the wall….. we slowly pull up the rope and let it drop to the other side….. to freedom….. our hearts are beating faster with anticipation…. We lower ourselves quietly to the ground of the outside world…… hug each other in gleeful relief…. We made it, we actually made it… we kiss each other deeply, groping butts, smiling, laughing with anticipation of the night to come – us alone, together.







And suddenly .....................







“MOM, DAD!!!! Watcha doing? Where are we going? Are we there yet? He’s touching me!! I don’t like that restaurant. Can we go to the store and look around? I have to go to the bathroom.”

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A blessed thing it is for any man or woman to have a friend, one human soul whom we can trust utterly, who knows the best and worst of us, and who loves us in spite of all our faults.