adventures in neverland

before she left the room, theresa, her long, black hair tied into a bun, took a one last look at the sleeping paolo. she lingered at his handsome face, at the w ell-sculptured nose, at the long eyelashes, at the small, closed mouth. those lips that made her swoon in ecstasy last night. in a month, she will marry paolo's father, the sixty-nine year old businessman, who owns half of the city's real estate, as well as several restaurants, hotels, even a taxi fleet. paolo, who is her first love, does not know it yet. but soon he will and she hates the thought that she will be breaking his heart. quietly, she turned off the light and closed the door. outside it was still dark. the beach has calmed down now. the waves were turbulent last night and the rains were persistent, won't stop. the howling winds have also quieted down. there was a storm signal last night, but they decided to come here to paolo's family's beach house to be alone. to share a night for th

i knew something was wrong the moment i entered the room. it was a bit dark (the light bulb was off…there was only a candle from where he was sitting)  and a pungent smell of cigarettes and alcohol greeted me as soon as i opened the door.  cigarette smokes swirled like invisible tiny clouds hurting my eyes and caused a few tears to swell up, a case of beer on the floor, and the soft humming of the beatles on the cassette player -- here, there and everywhere.  he didn't notice me. he was there, but he was not. he barely moved from his ghostly, statue-like post on the floor. i removed my shoes, my shirt, and my pants. then i grabbed last night's short pants hanging from a nail on a wall right beside my tiny bed. then i sat on the floor, right across from where he was seated. beer bottles, cigarette butts and a lighted stick between us. finally he saw me and gave me a lukewarm smile. i could not see his face clearly. but i knew he was forlorn, like the grey afterno