Mona turned and quickly left the room. It was natural, after all. Everybody had dreams. Even sex dreams. The change happened, that was all there was to it. Yet she felt uneasy after having watched something so instinctive, so basic as her daughter's hunger of the night.

She hurried to her own room and stripped her clothes and got into the shower. She felt slightly soiled after having given Merle that hand job. When she'd showered and dried and slipped into a silky nightgown, she still felt too tense to go to bed. She found herself padding down the hall again, heading for her brother's room. The typewriter was still now but a light still came from under the door. She paused there, thinking of how nice it was that Robby had come to stay for a while. He'd been going to school upstate, studying geology. Then a favorite teacher had moved down to Harrisburg to teach and Robby had transferred, too. The geology department was much better here, Mona remembered him saying. It was she who had suggested that he take the empty room. He was fixing up the place in his spare time to pay Mona back for her hospitality. Though she hadn't asked for any recompense, she was glad Robby was so handy with tools. Without a man around, the place had gotten a little shabby at the edges.

Mona put her hand on the doorknob, then took it back again. Sometimes it was hard to forget that they'd been brother and sister in another life, another house. Now it wouldn't be proper to burst right in without knocking first. She knocked.

"Want some coffee?" she called.

"Mona? That you? Come on in."

Mona breezed into the room. She couldn't understand the lightness she felt, the tingle as her gown moved across her breasts. Robby was leaning back in his chair. He put down his book and pushed fingers through his thick, curly hair. His hair was brown, lighter in shade than hers. But he had her straight, graceful nose and full lips. Kissin' lips is what Robby had called hers. A flashing image of his lips on hers flicked through her thoughts. After an instant of shock, Mona regained her composure. Where had that little piece of erotica come from anyhow?