Sighing, she rubbed her bulging stomach. Soon she would barely fit into the small hole in their apartment called "a bathtub." "Their apartment," she laughed as she thought the words and sunk farther into the luke-warm water. Letting out another slow breath, the water made a veil around her head, ringed the base of the pulsing planet at her middle, and barely kissed the under parts of her slightly-folded knees. Thoughts of the beach--of that night--came to her and she could feel the waves crashing against her then-taunt skin. His lips came across her salty neck and made their way down the tender path between her breasts. She was much younger then, for she had gained many years the past few months. The chilling water splashed and soothed their bodies as foam tangled in their hair. Soap escaped from the washcloth as she slid it down her leg--massaging it until she saw her once perfectly sculpted thigh. She worked on the other leg--beginning at her ankle and working her way up--cutting the excess skin away with her mind. His breath surrounded and warmed her as the cool water trickled down their bodies. Waking the next day, she was alone with sand in her hair and the sound of waves in her ears. She continued her routine around her knee and her thigh--becoming younger with each soft circle--until she reached her middle. Once there, she wrapped her arms around her stomach, grabbed hold of the excess skin, and hugged herself. She saw her true age and she cried.

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