Below the dense black mat of her pubes, her fat pale labia were sealed together. He ran a finger along them, and she groaned but didn't move. His fingers pushed at the lips and they splayed open, shining with moisture. Inside was slick with thick fluid, smooth and hot. Touching her there once more after so long was like smelling an odor of childhood, like hearing a voice of a loved one whose cadences one has started to forget. How many times had he closed his eyes and tried to recall the exact texture, the exact color? He adored her now all the more for her evocation of the cherished images of his memory. He adored the past woman all the more for foreshadowing the woman before him now.