continued from here.

Once again to reiterate... what you are reading are straight drafts... raw with no edits...warts, open sores and all! LOL! As it unfolds for me... .. it's unfolding to you. And depending on if the flow continues there could be yet one more section before the weekend is up. You can leave your 5 word sentence starter with every completed section posted. For those of you who want to play "catch-up" here are the previous sections in sequence.
PART 1
PART 2
PART 3
PART 4
Contributers to this section:
And yet anxiety gripped her... lelly
She knew it would end... cosima
She lifted her smoldering eyes... mustang

She knew it would end as she succumbed to him… at least that’s what she kept telling herself as their tongues intertwined while locked in a tight embrace. It sent an electrifying tingle that coursed throughout her entire being. Then he brought his hands up to hold the sides of her face as he began kissing her hard, desperately… almost violently. All she could do was attempt to validate his fervent actions with equal responses. He suddenly pulled away from her and gazed at her face. His hands then loosened and tenderly slid down her cheek as if to validate that she was indeed real.

She lifted her smoldering eyes to meet his and saw what she had first seen on the stone path outside the bathhouse. He drew her close to him and nestled his face into the side of her neck. He held her with a gentleness she had never ever experienced before and yet anxiety gripped her because of the newness of this sensation. This was unlike any sensual experience she had ever had.

He began to slide down to his knees, his chin dislodging the knot of her sarong and releasing its hold on her falling away down to the plank flooring. She stood there naked as the weight of his body finally rested on his knees. His arms wrapped around her as he buried his face into the curve of her right hip. She brought her hands to his head and slowly ran her fingers through his hair.

She looked down and realized that he was sobbing. She began to feel the tentativeness of confusion begin to overtake what until this point was a mounting sexual desire. He tilted his head up and looked at her. She was totally taken aback and mesmerized by the gratitude glowing from his eyes. He then stood up and backed away from her never for a moment taking his eyes off her.

“I’m sorry… I just had to know… I had to know that you are real.” With that he turned and left the room.

From outside the window she heard the voices of children singing an old Malay folk ditty, only slower… it almost sounded like a dirge.

Di mana dia, anak kambing saya,
Anak kambing saya main di tepi bendang,
Di mana dia, cinta hati saya,
Cinta hati saya yang berjalan lenggang,

She gathered up her sarong, quickly tied it and hurried to the window to look out. She saw nothing as the singing began fading into the distance. She made her way outside and walked around the house several times to see where he had gone but was only greeted by the serene sounds of the evening.

She finally sat on the verandah in the back trying to make sense of what had transpired. Her mind was racing at a fevered pitch. Nothing was making sense… nothing at all. Soon, overcome by exhaustion she curled up in her grandfather’s rattan chair and drifted off to sleep. As she lay there sleeping a figure of a woman stood by her side and pulled a sheet over Mina to insulate her from the cool night air.
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She awoke to the sounds of a lorry out front and a male voice calling out. “Miss Mina! Miss Mina…”

She stumbled out of the rattan chair and managed to formulate a response. “Just a moment! I’ll be out in a minute!” She made her way in and slipped on a blouse over her sarong in a hastened attempt to conform to the modest propriety of the village. When she walked out the front door she was greeted by Mr. Osman.

“Good morning, Miss Mina. I hope we did not wake you.”

“No, no, I was just… Good Morning, Mr Osman.”
“Where do you want these materials to be delivered?”

“Around to where the kitchen is… in the back.”

Mr. Osman tuned to the driver of the lorry and the 2 men who rode in the back. “Around to the back of the house, gentleman!”

As the men began unloading and carrying assorted materials to the back Mina walked down to Mr. Osman.

“Mr. Osman, is it possible to find someone to rebuild the kitchen.”

“What happened to the person you said you had?”

“That just didn’t work out.”

“Miss Mina, everyone is involved with the funeral today… but I’m sure I will have someone here tomorrow morning to begin the work.”

“That will be fine… Thank You. Also please provide me with a list of expenses together with that for my Grandmother’s funeral last week. And once again I want to thank you deeply for making all those arrangements.”

“Oh, there will be no bill for any of this, Miss Mina. This is the very least we can do for your grandmother for all she has done for us over the years.”

“But… “

“Miss Mina, if you insist on paying us… the entire village will be deeply insulted. It would be a great disrespect to us… and an insult to the memory of your grandmother.”

Mina knew that this was firm and no amount if insistence would change his mind. All she could muster was a humble thank you. The lorry had now been emptied of its contents and the men were ready to head back.

“We will go now Miss Mina. We will see you at the funeral this afternoon, yes? If not the funeral… perhaps the kenduri after.”

Funerals were a community event and Mina knew that her presence would act as a gesture of thanks to the village for pitching in for her grandmother’s funeral just the week before.

“I will be at the kenduri.”

“Of course.” Came Osman’s gracious reply.

Just as he turned to head to the truck Mina interjected.

“Mr. Osman, is there a family living nearby… a family with children?”

“Children?” A glint flashed in the old man’s eye. “Things are as they were from your last visit 7 years ago, Miss Mina. Other than your grandparents property no one lives between here and the village.”

“What about up the road?”

“The next town is 20 miles away.” He was about to leave when he stopped again and turned to her. “Please forgive me for asking… yesterday in the village… what did you see?” Mina looked at Osman with a slight frown on her brow. Seeing this he quickly made an attempt to clarify. “Outside the coffee shop… across in the padang.”

“Children. They were playing tops.”

“Huh. Children… playing tops. Very good. Very good.” He chuckled to himself and hurriedly got into the passenger side of the old lorry. “I will see you at the kenduri later!” The vehicle drove down the road back toward the village in a rising trail of dust.

continued here...

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