Silk kimono and uchikake rustle and billow as the women settle onto the floor.

Instagram of the 17th Century.

In the painting is Zeus, transformed into a white bull, having abducted fair Europa, and he is transporting her across the Aegean Sea to the isle of Crete where he will ‘have his way with her’. In a similar yet very different story, Marguerite crossed the Atlantic Ocean (on a converted troop ship in 1947) to meet my father after two years apart and to decide whether or not to marry him.

With creaking knees the old woman bends to the keyhole …

Her great wings heave with muscular strength, shoulder joints rotating backwards to slow her ascent. Gauzy tunic strains against her perfect body…

One day, wet, cold and collarless, a little black and white terrier followed my father home from a walk at the beach. We children fawned over him in adoration. At the insistence of our mother, signs went up in the neighbourhood and a small ad was placed in the local paper with his description under the words: Found: Lost dog.

Different Kinds of Love by JKForward

I feel a kind of pity for those in the wild burst of infatuation, ‘bazodee’ to use the Creole word or the Tagalog ‘kilig’ for butterflies in the stomach.

The maid brings wine to the lady, speaking brightly as she does so of its refreshing taste and distinguished vintage…

The two coffees would have cost just a coin or two, so why …

Perched in the prow of the family felucca, I felt as elegant as I knew I looked, especially as I was wearing a new jewelled collar. Down the Nile we glided.