The Wet was coming in. You felt it in the damp air that fell like a shroud across your shoulders, and in the sweat that seeped from your face and body after the slightest exertion. Week after week, the heat was ominous, relentless. We longed for rain, but when it came, suddenly cascading from the roofs in long, clear sheets, and just as suddenly stopping, there was no drop in the temperature.
During the first downpour of the season, we stood outside until we were drenched, but when the sun returned, our clothes dried in minutes. Sometimes, the town felt like a soggy hell, and we were driven to the cool air in Simon’s cabin, to the library, or to the tepid water of the pool.
Everywhere was quiet. The tourists had left for cooler places. Also, for me and Simon, there was a sense of some th
