It seemed to them that the whole world was in league with their love. It sprouted signs within ripened fields and across fertile valleys. It grew gravid with portents.
The first night of their honeymoon, they camped in a dewy autumn meadow with their secondhand telescope so as to better observe the Hale-Bopp comet. They were not disappointed. To the naked eye, the comet appeared as an ethereal smudge of brightness against the black; through the lens, however, it was like a luminous thumbprint, almost too beautiful to be apprehended. When Ben began to stroke the fine hairs on the nape of her neck, Margita was afraid that her organs would simultaneously rupture with happiness.
Of course, this was all in the years before Ben’s illness. These days even the simplest outings required hours of
