The Washing He thought about the pyre as he soaped her hair, the many times they had played with the shampoo only to end-up on the bed caressing. This time it was different, her hands were cool and her breast had started to stiffen. Two flocks of pigeons crossed each other in the sky as the bells tolled atop the churches. He watched them through the bedroom window in silence and waited for the sun to finish going down before soaping her cold, dead feet.