Sixteen
After all the salacious rock ‘n’ roll sounds had died away, the final smoke had been smote and the youth there present had gathered their collected lust and nerves to their beds, Derek remained fixed to the spot in the courtyard, taking breaths while he watched the final moments of precession in the stars, daybreak coming to the seams of the landscape. Then at just after 4 a.m. he saw something peculiar, and his attention turned towards the barn, craning forward to stare at the honeysuckle either side of the doors.
Sitting back, he watched on, mistakenly believing that what he was witnessing was just another moment of acid clarity.
Gently but perceptively, the stems of the honeysuckle were reaching and curling about the barn doors. Derek saw two or three stems at first before hi
