


a New York City summer day, hot, hotter, July. My body heated, lazy, heavy, slow. A chilled hotel suite downtown. Relief, relaxation; sweet surrender into the softness of soft cushion and blissful, air-conditioned solitude. Sun on my skin, stroking me gently from a safe distance. I close my eyes. I breathe in. I breathe out. As I finally nod off............not waking up from the faint sound of a keycard clicking, of a door opening; closing. Not waking up from the sound a person makes when they walk into the room.