And when the rain came through and the wind picked up, we hudled our bodies into the softness of each other. The red of our lips upturned and hid our dancing tongues. We smelled the rain and wanted to taste the dew, and the sound of the weather pounding on the windows frightened us. The floor boards creaked and the roof let in a few leaks, but it sustained us. We stayed in the shelter of this rickety place hoping that it would protect us from the storm. It shook and it rocked, and it made us feel uneasy and unsafe, but we stayed. We stayed because it had always protected us anyway.