coconut palms came down to the water and the beach turned away from her out of sight. She made her way slowly back.
When she reached the coconut palms near the water’s edge, she left the beach to walk behind them and heard a strange noise. An animal crying perhaps? It was coming from the sea beyond the palms. She crept quietly through the darkness.
She could just make out the beach and, as she moved nearer, a group of people at the water’s edge. The noise, a rhythmic moaning, came from them. She stopped still and let her eyes adjust. Men, in swimming trunks she supposed, although the water was too deep to be sure. Then one of them moved and the moonlight picked out a girl, one of the Indonesian girls from the restaurant, with her hair wet and slicked back. She moved again and the moon shone on her naked breasts. She was looking down, at the water, into the cluster of men. From where the moaning came.
A shock hit Sherry. The moaning came from a woman. The men were doing something to a woman, presumably the other twin. Something good, because these were moans of pleasure. Her stomach dropped. She tried to peer through the darkness and make out exactly what was happening. The moaning accelerated and the water around the group became broken. They spoke in low voices, sharing the occasion.
Watching secretly was exciting and Sherry felt guilty. She moved closer to the nearest palm but did not take her eyes from the group. She thought they held the girl just afloat and someone stood between her legs. She could imagine the man thrusting into the floating girl while his friends supported her and enjoyed her excitement, and in a moment another would take his turn. And another, and perhaps her sister would be pulled down to assist. A figure moved to obscure her view and the noise sounded stifled. The moaning came now from a woman with her mouth full. How exciting, how lucky the girl was. Sherry felt her own excitement rising.
Suddenly she decided to go home. She would hurry back to their hut and make Tim do the same to her. She would show him what she had learnt. She would surprise him and make him a present of her body.
Their bedroom light was off. Tim lay naked on his bed, asleep, his body all soft light and shadows from the moon. Under his tousled hair, he looked sweet. She felt her excitement ebb out of her, and she lay down to sleep on her own bed.
Chapter 7
Tim left the hut early next morning and dragged the old windsurfer down to the water. The sun had just crested the rocky spine of the island and gilded the heads of the coconut palms along the beach. The sea lay glassy and inviting, glinting clear gold and blue. Another day in paradise. He pushed the board out and paddled to the reef.
It was busy down there. Perhaps the fish had stayed up late, before the sun drove most of them under cover. They darted or dawdled, dabs of unlikely colours over the pastels of the coral garden. No wind pushed him along this morning so without lifting his head he lazily paddled with his hands and the garden drifted slowly beneath him. In the corner of his vision a small black-tipped reef shark arrowed purposefully past, its military sleekness hinting at danger.
An opalescent cuttlefish caught his eye, hanging in the water just out of reach. Amazement held him as he watched the opal lustre ripple over the creature’s fat body. It did not move. It just hung in space and flexed its colours. He quietly slid off the board. He reached down with a foot to prod it but as his toe approached, the animal flashed into action. A cloud of sepia filled the space where it had been, and it disappeared, leaving only the impression of flurried movement. He had not seen how it had performed its vanishing trick or where it had gone. It had been there, and then it was not. He clambered back on to his board feeling privileged to have seen it, and drifted on.
A shout and a threshing in the water broke his peace, and he looked up
When she reached the coconut palms near the water’s edge, she left the beach to walk behind them and heard a strange noise. An animal crying perhaps? It was coming from the sea beyond the palms. She crept quietly through the darkness.
She could just make out the beach and, as she moved nearer, a group of people at the water’s edge. The noise, a rhythmic moaning, came from them. She stopped still and let her eyes adjust. Men, in swimming trunks she supposed, although the water was too deep to be sure. Then one of them moved and the moonlight picked out a girl, one of the Indonesian girls from the restaurant, with her hair wet and slicked back. She moved again and the moon shone on her naked breasts. She was looking down, at the water, into the cluster of men. From where the moaning came.
A shock hit Sherry. The moaning came from a woman. The men were doing something to a woman, presumably the other twin. Something good, because these were moans of pleasure. Her stomach dropped. She tried to peer through the darkness and make out exactly what was happening. The moaning accelerated and the water around the group became broken. They spoke in low voices, sharing the occasion.
Watching secretly was exciting and Sherry felt guilty. She moved closer to the nearest palm but did not take her eyes from the group. She thought they held the girl just afloat and someone stood between her legs. She could imagine the man thrusting into the floating girl while his friends supported her and enjoyed her excitement, and in a moment another would take his turn. And another, and perhaps her sister would be pulled down to assist. A figure moved to obscure her view and the noise sounded stifled. The moaning came now from a woman with her mouth full. How exciting, how lucky the girl was. Sherry felt her own excitement rising.
Suddenly she decided to go home. She would hurry back to their hut and make Tim do the same to her. She would show him what she had learnt. She would surprise him and make him a present of her body.
Their bedroom light was off. Tim lay naked on his bed, asleep, his body all soft light and shadows from the moon. Under his tousled hair, he looked sweet. She felt her excitement ebb out of her, and she lay down to sleep on her own bed.
Chapter 7
Tim left the hut early next morning and dragged the old windsurfer down to the water. The sun had just crested the rocky spine of the island and gilded the heads of the coconut palms along the beach. The sea lay glassy and inviting, glinting clear gold and blue. Another day in paradise. He pushed the board out and paddled to the reef.
It was busy down there. Perhaps the fish had stayed up late, before the sun drove most of them under cover. They darted or dawdled, dabs of unlikely colours over the pastels of the coral garden. No wind pushed him along this morning so without lifting his head he lazily paddled with his hands and the garden drifted slowly beneath him. In the corner of his vision a small black-tipped reef shark arrowed purposefully past, its military sleekness hinting at danger.
An opalescent cuttlefish caught his eye, hanging in the water just out of reach. Amazement held him as he watched the opal lustre ripple over the creature’s fat body. It did not move. It just hung in space and flexed its colours. He quietly slid off the board. He reached down with a foot to prod it but as his toe approached, the animal flashed into action. A cloud of sepia filled the space where it had been, and it disappeared, leaving only the impression of flurried movement. He had not seen how it had performed its vanishing trick or where it had gone. It had been there, and then it was not. He clambered back on to his board feeling privileged to have seen it, and drifted on.
A shout and a threshing in the water broke his peace, and he looked up
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