“I can still see into the garden of 69 from two of the upstairs windows my place .... Well not at night, I mean, but I could show you what it looks like now in the daytime. It’s been repainted from its original maroon colour to a shade of dark brown. Other than that it looks the same,” said Daniel, “I suppose it could be photographed in black and white, to hide the colour change.”

“I live in America now with my boyfriend and our little boy,” said Trudi, thinking that it needed to be brought out in the open, before she could accept an invitation to visit another man in his own home, “But I’m staying in the hotel in this village on a holiday. I saw the poetry slam advertised on the hotel lobby noticeboard, and thought it was as promising a way as any to spend the night. After hearing the other performers, I can’t come anywhere near to saying that the poetry slam has been a highlight of the holiday. But I can definitely say that ‘Reflections in Rainwater’ was the highlight of the poetry slam.”

“I’m really glad you liked it,” he said, with some of the light now no longer visible in his eyes.

She knew that he felt embarrassed by his compliments on her appearance in present day and in her teenage photo, now that he knew she was well and truly spoken for. He was trying to recover from the shock, and didn’t know if his invitation to look at 69 from the windows of 73 was still a good idea.

She smiled reassuringly, to let him know that he had not undermined the formation of a casual friendship, but was not yet ready to talk about the idea that had been fermenting in her mind since the third verse of his second poem.

“It’s very thoughtful of you to let me take a glance at 69. Maybe we could even open the window, so that I could zoom in and take a few photographs of it, without having the camera focus on the glass of your window,” said Trudi.

“That’s easily done,” said Daniel, “You’re welcome to come over.”

“Well I know exactly how to find the place. I guess with you being a little boy, and me being busy with school and acting and then moving away to get married, our paths never crossed back then,” said Trudi.

“When did you meet ... he who wasn’t exemplary?” asked Daniel.

“It started very quickly. That’s probably why it ended quickly after only two years. We met when I was barely 18, got married a month later, having never taken the time to get to know eachother properly. It was all just based on instant love at first sight, which wasn’t enough to sustain a lasting relationship with any working compatibility,” said Trudi, “Why did you want to talk about him? He doesn’t bother me anymore, since I’ve had time to get over him. I’m just curious.”