James Brawley

She has bad circulation.

And she always used to bug me.

And Franz's sister is ready to go back as well.

But Franz is fine.

And I just got in.

And we're all vacation buddies.

So Susan and the sister go back to the hotel, leaving Franz and I, for the first time, alone.

In the dark, in our underwear, in the Mediterranean, where they invented the word philander.

And where, it occurs to me, we can have sex without her seeing my body.

So I swim around for a little bit and try to figure out what's the personal space in the Mediterranean.

How close can you swim before you can't swim away?

And whatever that distance is, France swims right to the edge of it and says, the water makes me feel so free.

It's not having that effect on me.

I got bear claws to hide and promises to keep.

And I am so tense that I can't breathe normally, which makes me look abnormal.

Which leads Frost to say, is everything okay?

Maybe we should go back.

And she gets out of the water and stands on the beach, tripping in the moonlight, dabbing at herself with her dress.

So I've got one eye on her and the other on my shirt, which is fluttering off the back of this chair.

And I get closer and closer, spreading my legs wider and wider so that only my head is visible, like an alligator.