The mood was altered, not only for me but also for my sweetheart. After hanging up the receiver we stumbled into silence.
After a while I offered to escort her to Mrs. Babcock’s home, but Natasha refused. She kissed me goodbye, a bit hurriedly, and said that a long walk, by herself, would do her good.
I watched her walking away from me, her figure shrinking into the distance under the London Plane trees. Stiff-textured leaves were swirling in the evening breeze. One of them, lobed like the palm of a hand, landed on my shoulder as if to say, don’t take it to heart. This had been a long day. Things were bound to look brighter, come next morning.
Yes, I said to myself. Natasha must have been exhausted now, and so was I. What’s more, her Ma was an expert in taking control of the conversation, which was why it took the wind out of both of us. But tomorrow, Natasha would come back for me, really she would.
I took a stroll in the opposite direction, then stood a long time by the fountain, watching other couples coming by, walking hand-in-hand.
A street performer tried, several times, to gather some of them into an audience, all in vain. No one paid attention to him. Perhaps it was too late. The sky was getting darker. Time to go home.
He stopped by my side, perhaps sensing my sadness, and sang, in the softest voice,
When we kissed goodbye in old Mayfair
Forever I’ll recall
Chill was trembling in the air
Summer turning to fall
When you left—I may be wrong—
But it was too hard to bear
A nightingale stopped singing in the middle of a song
As the silence lingering over Berkeley square.
Excerpt from Dancing with Air by Uvi Poznansky
Included in Love in Times of War
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Love in Times of War
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Sail into danger, explore passion and intrigue in these twelve love stories about the heart of men called to serve in dangerous locales and the valiance of women who long for them to come home. You will find yourself inspired by this collection, written by multi award-winning, USA Today and International bestselling authors.
"This anthology consists of twelve wonderful stories with the inherent theme of love and war contained in them. Out of the twelve authors, Uvi Poznansky is the only one that I was familiar with previously. So, in addition to becoming acquainted with new authors in this set, my 'to be read' pile has grown considerably. That is not a bad thing with the wind chill of a minus 10 as I write this review!!"
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