"Tell me about the monster, Angela."

Angela twisted her head away, with an agonised expression on her face.

"You don't want to know, Domingo."

Domingo took her face between his hands and gently turned her back to look at him.

"I DO want to know, Angela. I really do," he said earnestly.

Angela let out a long, ragged sigh, looked down at her hands in her lap and began.

"My mother didn't like children. She had seven, and the first six were ...