Proserpina

I stepped out of the kitchen, face glowing as I hurried to meet my friend.

Rachel had arrived, flying in from one of the Scandinavian nations, where she had gone to attend a lecture on environmental hazards. And she had also presented a paper before the august assembly of academicians, and I was proud of her although she had played down her achievement in her usual flippant way.

I threw my arms around her and she hugged me enthusiastically. Rachel was a big-boned woman with short-cropped blonde hair and a wide smile, her huge glasses balanced on her small pert nose. She still had a smattering of freckles on...