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I’d experienced both in my life

When I was younger, there’d been the shortness of school holidays, and the eternity of stressful exams

And then, of course, there’d been the kidnapping

The rabbed me in the kitchen of the backpackers, where , had caused ti crawl It abandoned ain until I was flown to Goddess Isles and met the man who’d purchased me

But the moment our eyes met?

Tirated Every clock smashed Every er needed

Time was the structure that all humanity and natureyou free It erased all notion of time because it honestly didn’t exist for us anymore

We’d found each other

Our countdoas over, and we lived side by side in bliss

“Jinxwhat are youover now?”

Sully’s rough baritone ripped ht Indonesian sun Raising an ar the constant glitter of sand upon rinned at ”

“Uh-huh” Sully rolled his stunning blue eyes and scratched at this thick five o’clock shadow “Well, whatever you were thinking about, snap out of it I asked you a question, so give me an ansoman”

I padded toward hi a silver bikini beneath This i inspection into an all-day excursion

“What was the question?” I stopped beside hi my hand in the manmade pool that housed shallows, caverns, and aquatic dens perfect for the tenants currently healing within

Within the ater, I smiled as a shy shadow moved toward the surface Sully wrapped his arraceful swi my heart like it did every time I’d visited

“And you say I’m the one with power over animals,” Sully murmured as a small octopus reached out with a tentative tentacle and wrapped it around my pinkie The sensation of its tiny suckers and the silkiness of its sinuous arms never failed to cause wonder

“He’s just come to trust me, that’s all”

“Wrong It’s because he can sense you’re trustworthy”

“You’re the one who saved him Saved all of them”

“We saved them” He pressed a kiss to my temple as a second octopus floated fro its tiny tentacles around e flower fronds

Both ht brown, muted and content However, when they hunted or were chased, they could e but movement too