The Naked Woman

Her nudity and commitment to freedom had begun at night, when morning had been unimaginable

I’m going to make a cup of chamomile tea” was all she said in reply, smothering her hatred in an ancient, bestial servitude

They were gone from this world, sleeping the sacred sleep of beasts of burden whose only respite is the collapse at the end of the day

An inner growth, like the first swelling of milk, was taking possession of her

Several times she tried to close her eyes and slip between the bars, but they were waiting for her behind her eyelids