I sat on the grass with my back propped against a tree in the shade of Province House and read from the journal that had been Lilith's gift to me. And found myself fading, my surroundings disappearing into the background as everything I was seemed to flow forward into the pages of the book. Until it was as if I'd lost who I was while the past unfolded in my mind-

***

She lies in her bed, having just given birth. Kisses the baby and passes him to the young midwife ...