She took a gander at me and paused. At seven years of age, she was little for her age still, yet she appeared to be at that time to have changed, her face a touch less puerile than it was previously; one of those minutes you have with youngsters, those frightening glimmers of acknowledgment that they are growing far up into the clouds from you directly in front of you, that time elapses so rapidly. Her hair spread out across the white cushion, her attentive gazes were fixed on mine.
I made myself take a full breath, my mouth frightfully dry. 'What you heard in the kitchen before, darling, it more likely than not sounded so insane, so senseless,' I started, my grin so constrained it hurt my face, my voice harsh. 'We were simply playing a senseless game, there's nothing more to it! That was
