Evening comes slowly. Shadows become more and more elongated and slowly merge with the darkness around. The day has already hastened towards its grave, but the night hasn't yet descended on the banks of shadow.

I walk down the dark alley. I'm returning from the hospital. I'd gone there to see Nana, but I didn't find any of my relatives outside the building, from whom I could have borrowed the gatepass. Of course, I could have haggled my way into her room, but on second thought I had rejected the idea. I didn't want to draw the attention of my relatives there.

I stood there on the pavement outside the wall from where the window of Nana's second floor room could be seen. 'The fifth one from the left,' I told myself. I tried to focus my mind and felt around for her touch. Sure enough, she was there, her face calm in sleep, her breath slow, but regular. I heaved a sigh of relief and came away from there.

Now I'm walking down the dark alley by the side of the river. I arrive at the old abandoned jetty and walk to the furthest end. An old gnarled tree has raised its head there from the river bank below. The river silt deposited on this side has reduced the depth of water,  making it difficult for big vessels to navigate the water here, forcing them to abandon the jetty. I lean on the rusty rails that guard its sides and try to look into the murky water that twirls around the pillars which have been bored into the river bed, creating small whirlpools at the base of those pillars.

As my eyes get accustomed to the darkness, I notice a strange thing. A drowned body had come there floating and lodged itself at the base of the left pillar. As I look now, the river water slowly starts to rise. The high tide is coming and wave after wave force their way upstream. I hear the water splash furiously against the pillars. The swift currents snatch the white, blotted corpse and send it floating away from the bank once more. I try to follow its movement with my eyes, but soon it is lost in the swirling murky water.

I heave a sigh. "There's such a huge commotion on the banks/ Whose corpse is it that floats in the water?/ Where did you have your home?/ The night only screams in the wind/ A free wanderer, that's what I've always been!"

I come away from the railing. Drowned bodies stuck below the jetty are not a new sight to me. Quite often they come downstream in this way. Corpses of people drowned accidentally or those who jumped into the river willingly- the river takes them all and carries them to the sea. For, the river doesn't allow a human to have a watery grave. When the corpse is bloated enough, it floats up and is carried by the river to its hitherto unknown destiny.

I feel weak and restless at the same time. I walk up to the shaded porch of the old warehouse and sit there. The porch is facing the river. Far away on the opposite bank lights from jetties and ferry ghats reflect in the water, creating an impression of huge columns of light going down into water towards some unknown realm hidden inside the river.

I sit there, lost in my reverie. Memories of last evening start to invade my mind and take over my senses. I feel a strange longing. Will he come looking for me again? He knows that I often come here in the evening. Will he look for me here?

A sound of footsteps at the mouth of the alley! Slowly it comes this way. I try to get up but my limbs fail me. Instead, I sit there still, expectant.

Ruy comes and finds me sitting still on the porch, half-hidden in the shadows. "There you are, Mimo! I've been looking for you all day!" He says in an elated voice. Climbing up the stairs, he comes and sits by my side. His right hand comes around me and presses me to his side. "Sorry, I've heard about your granny. It must have been very difficult for you!" He says softly.

I feel dizzy. The warm touch, the soft feel, the heady smell, the sincere voice- everything about him draws me towards him. I lean on him, pressing myself more to him.

He leans backward and lets me rest on his body. Slowly, I unbutton his shirt and press my face on his warm chest. The muffled sound of his quickened heartbeats now thunders into my ears. My lips and the tip of my tongue start sucking in the sweet-smelling warmth of his soft skin.

Panting, Ruy holds my face in his hands and drags me upward. His mouth finds my lips and he starts sucking on them. Our tongues entwine and, as our breathings get more laboured, our saliva mix more and more. As we almost choke, our mouths separate reluctantly. Ruy's left hand cradles my head and pressing his right hand on my back, he flips me around. Freeing his right hand he opens up my shirtfront and his warm fingers yank my left boob out from the cup of my undergarment. For a moment, both of us gaze at the soft lump of flesh gripped in his palm, trembling like a white dove in the grip of a hunter. Then he lowers his face and the pink nipple, along with the reddish areola, vanishes inside his mouth. The tip of his tongue caresses my nipple, sending a jolt of pleasure through my spine and his right hand starts kneading the area around my thighs. Slowly, his greedy fingers enter my forbidden delta, forcing through the mouth of the hidden river bit by bit. A strange pain spreads through my lower body; water rushes out, flooding the dry riverbed, drowning my senses in numbing pleasure. My muscles start to relax, stretching out my limbs. I grab his hair with my ten fingers as he rubs his sweat-drenched face against my burning skin. A heady smell starts to flow up into my nostrils. The smell of a wild flower that blooms at night, droops at dawn...

A strange whistling sound jolts my senses into reality. In an instant I yank myself from Ruy's grasp and position my body in front of him, hidding him behind me. Another whistle sound, nearer to us. Then the huge viper raises its hood in front of me. Its beady eyes stares into mine and I see the rage and hatred inside them. Before it can make another move, I stretch out my hand and grab its neck in a vicious grip. With my other hand I grab its tail and pick it up from the ground. Its cold body twitches and trembles in my grip, but my hands are firm and steady. My hatred growls deep inside me. Slowly, I increase the pressure on its neck, ready to snuff its life out. 

"Mimo! What are you doing?" A voice cries out from behind me. I had forgotten all about him!

I try to calm myself down. With all my strength I fling the snake away. Then I tidy myself up, ignoring the blood clotted at my nipple, the mark of bruises on my breast and the sticky feeling between my legs.

My heart still pounds against my ribcage and my blood is still on fire, my senses aroused too much from the feast they made on this boy. Ruy throws his hands around me and hides his face against my neck, still trembling from the sudden jolt of separation. I realize that we had dived too deep into each other's senses. But now as we hold each other tightly, we separate ourselves bit by bit, returning to our own individual existence. 

He is the first one to leave. Standing up abruptly, he runs down the steps and disappears into the dark alley. For a long time his running footsteps continue to ring in the still night air. 

I stand up, too. With unhurried steps I walk round the building and stand before the dark silhouette against the front gate. I need to talk to her now.