At the edge of thought, a frozen pond melted.

The Guy in armor had taken it all off, and was

sitting on the floor sobbing.

Anna never saw such a thing. She should run...

tell him she was expected somewhere...or...

someone was waiting...she needed to be alone...

This strapping brute of a man had suddenly

become a minute creature, shaking with shame.

Anna knew she needed imagination for this one,

but trained otherwise from birth,

never had a chance.

She tried to look serious. She tried to look

dignified, but the naked man on the floor

reduced her to simplicity.

Could she name the problem?

Name her darkness?

The side of her sleeve was offered to his running nose.

Her field of vision blurred.

He told her this was his first day on the job

and he couldn't go through with it.

He was a PhD student working his way through anthropology.

She bent down and took his head and arms.

Now what would she do with her unused understanding.

There, under the bed, she saw her other satin slipper.

Somehow she knew it would fit.