Wrapped up

They sit.

Intertwined.

Wrapped up in each other and Faulkner.  He is the expert, reading one book while she is the student, reading another.  His brow is furrowed as he lines under first one word, then another.  Her eyes are laughing, this is more fun than she'd imagined.

Hers isn't an easy book to understand.  She balances it on his knees and glances up.  Should she interrupt again?

As if he hears her thoughts, he looks up from his book balanced against her arm and smiles.

Permission granted.  Always he wants her to ask questions, to feel free to dive into any book when he is near, confident that she will never drown, never get lost, never feel incapable of understanding what is before her.

This is the dream come true.  Two kindred souls matched and mismatched on a winter's afternoon, warming their toes in Yoknapatawpha County.