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The man wakes up one morning to find the woman missing. His search for her leads him on an adventure of discovery and remembrance that answers more than just what has happened to her and why.

The man woke up.

The man woke up and opened his eyes. He closed them again and rubbed them.

The woman was not beside him.

The man sat up. He looked around. Nothing was out of place. Nothing except the woman. Maybe she was preparing food.

The sun was bright and warm.

The man got up from where he had slept.

The man peed.

The man cleaned himself.

The man could not find the woman. She was not preparing food.

The man prepared food for his morning meal. He was hungry. He ate his morning meal. He ate until he was no longer hungry. He put some food in a bag and left the place where he lived at the top of the hill. He went down the hill in the sunshine.

The man went to the place where he worked by the river. The man worked. He worked all morning in the sunshine. He worked and he sweated in the sunshine. The man did not think about the woman while he worked. He only thought about his work.

At noon, the man stopped working and ate his food. He ate his food beside the river. He thought about the woman while he ate his food beside the river. He tried to think where she could be. He could not think of where she could be. He returned to work. He returned to work and did not think about the woman. He only thought about his work.

The man worked until the sun went down. He cleaned himself.

In the twilight, the man went to the place where another man and another woman lived. The place where the other man and the other woman lived was at the bottom of the hill. The other man was not there, but the other woman was.

The other woman offered him food.

The man asked if the other woman had seen the woman.

She told him she had not. She again offered him food.

The man asked her when the other man would return.

She said she didn't know.

The man left without eating the food the other woman had offered him. The man went up the hill. The night was warm. The man went up the hill in the warm night.

A beast waited near the place where the man lived. The beast was the woman's beast. The beast was hungry.

The man ignored the beast and entered the place where he lived. The place where he lived at the top of the hill.

The woman was not there.

The man prepared food for himself and a little for the beast. He could not remember if the beast had been there that morning. He did remember that the woman had not been there that morning.

The beast ran off with the food that the man gave it.

The man was alone.

The man tried to think of where the woman might be, but he could not think of where the woman might be.

The man peed.

The man cleaned himself.

The man wondered if the next day would also be sunny and warm.

The man lay down and closed his eyes. He yawned. He opened his eyes. The woman was not there. The man closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next morning the man went back to the place at the bottom of the hill where the other man and the other woman lived. The other man was not there, but the other woman was.

The other woman offered him food.

The man said he had already eaten.

The other woman offered him food for later when he would be hungry again.

The man showed her his bag of food and said he already had some. He asked the other woman when she expected the other man to return.

The other woman said she didn't know. She said the other man had been gone since before yesterday morning.

The man asked the other woman if it was possible.

The other woman said anything was possible.

The man left the place at the bottom of the hill where the other man and the other woman lived.

The sun was bright and warm.

The man remembered that he had not seen the beast since the night before when the beast had run away with the food that the man had given it. The man also remembered that he had not seen the woman either. He tried to remember when he had last seen her, but he only remembered that she had been gone since before the previous morning.

The man went to work at the place where he worked by the river. The day was not a usual workday, but the sun was bright and warm, and the woman was not around. He had nothing else to do. So he worked. He sweated. He did not think about the woman while he worked and sweated. He only thought about his work.

At noon, the man ate his food. He thought about the woman. He thought about the other man. He drank water, and then he thought about the other woman. He returned to work.

The man worked until a little before the time he usually stopped working on regular workdays. The day was not a regular workday, so he stopped working a little before the time he usually stopped working on regular workdays. The sun was still up. The man cleaned himself well.

The other woman offered the man food when he arrived at the place where the other man and the other woman lived at the bottom of the hill.

The man accepted.

The man and the other woman did not talk while the man ate. The man did not like to talk while he ate. He liked to eat while he ate.

After he had eaten, the man thanked the other woman for the food. Then the man and the other woman talked.

The man told the other woman that the next morning he would search for the woman. He said she had been gone at least two days and it was time to look for her.

The other woman asked if he would look for the other man.

The man said he would look for the other man while he searched for the woman and that after all wasn't it possible.

The other woman said anything was possible. The other woman asked about the beast.

The man said he wouldn't take the beast.

The other woman said the beast might help him find the woman because the beast was the woman's beast.

The man said he did not like the beast and he did not want it as a companion.

The other woman said she would take care of the beast.

The man said the beast could take care of itself.

The other woman told the man that she would prepare food for his journey.

The man thanked her.

While the other woman prepared the food, the man repaired a hole in his food bag. The man asked the other woman if she needed him to repair anything in the place where she lived.

The other woman showed the man some things that the other man had not yet repaired.

The other woman told the man that she thought it would rain the next day.

The man said he worked in any weather and that he could look for the woman in any weather.

The other woman said that the other man didn't work outside and didn't sweat at work.

The man did not respond.

When the other woman had packed the food and the man had finished the repairs, the other woman invited the man to stay with her for the night.

The man said he wanted to settle things about the woman first. Then he almost said yes. Then he walked into the night and up the hill to the place where he lived.

The beast was not around the place where the man lived. The man neither saw nor heard anything outside.

Inside, the woman was still gone. The man went to sleep and dreamed of the journey he would not go on the next day.

The man woke to the sound of the beast loudly making the sound that such beasts make. It was still night. It was still night, and it was still dark.

The law enforcer called for the man to come out. The man obeyed.

The law enforcer held a package. The beast circled the law enforcer's legs. It eyed the package. It continued to make the sound that such beasts make.

The man told the beast to be quiet. The beast made its sound louder. The man kicked at the beast but missed. The man gave the beast some meat, but the beast was more interested in the bag.

The law enforcer told the man to forget the beast. The man obeyed.

The law enforcer pulled a ball out of the package and asked the man if he recognized it.

The man said no. He said he couldn't see in the dark.

The law enforcer shined his light on the ball. The man said he recognized it and it wasn't a ball but rather the head of the woman.

The beast screamed and ran away.

The man asked the law enforcer where he found it.

The law enforcer said he didn't find it. He said two boys found it by the river. He said the boys were fishing and found it. Found it by the river.

The man asked where the woman's body was.

The law enforcer said he had come to ask the man the same question.

The man asked the law enforcer why the law enforcer had come to ask him that.

The law enforcer said because the head belonged to the woman who had belonged to the man.

The man said the woman had belonged to herself.

The law enforcer said the head belonged to the woman who lived in the house that the man lived in.

The man agreed, but he said he didn't know why the law enforcer thought that meant that he, the man, knew where the body was that belonged to the head that belonged to the woman.

The law enforcer said he didn't think it was funny. The man agreed.

The law enforcer said the boys found the head near the river while they were fishing, and this place where they were fishing was near where the man worked.

The man said he still didn't understand why the law enforcer thought that meant that he, the man, would know where the body was that belonged to the head that belonged to the woman.

The law enforcer said the man seemed to be avoiding the question and he was beginning to sound suspicious.

The man said no, he didn't know where the woman's body was.

The law enforcer said okay. He said the main reason he had come was for the man to confirm that the head belonged to the woman.

The man said that he had already confirmed that the head had belonged to the woman.

The law enforcer said he remembered that the man had already confirmed this and that he only brought it up again to remind him, the law enforcer--that is to say himself--why he had come to visit the man because he thought things had gone off on the wrong track with the talk of suspicion.

The man said the law enforcer had no need to explain.

The law enforcer asked the man when he had last seen the woman alive.

The man said he couldn't remember anything before the day before yesterday, but that he could say definitely that he hadn't seen the woman since he had woken up the day before yesterday.

The law enforcer said that sounded suspicious.

The man said he understood it sounded suspicious.

The law enforcer asked the man if he would join the search for the body the next morning. The man said he would.

The law enforcer put the head in the package. The law enforcer said he was sorry.

The man said he was sorry too, but not as sorry as the woman.

The law enforcer said it wasn't funny.

The man agreed that it wasn't funny. He agreed even though he was not sure what it was that the law enforcer did not think was funny.

The man thanked the law enforcer for bringing him the head at such a time of night and for braving the hill and the beast in the darkness.

The law enforcer said good night.

The man said he would go with the law enforcer to the bottom of the hill. And he did.

The man stood alone at the bottom of the hill.

He went to the place where the other man and the other woman lived.

The other woman woke up when the man signaled his presence. She offered him food.

The man said he didn't want food. He said he wanted to stay the rest of the night.

And he did.

And yes, he fucked her.

In the morning, the man told the other woman about the law enforcer bringing the woman's head to the place where he lived.

The other woman asked the man if the law enforcer had said anything about the other man. The man said he had not.

The man ate the food that the other woman had prepared. The other woman ate too.

The man and the other woman did not talk while they ate.

When they finished eating, the man said the food was good.

The other woman said she knew what a man wanted.

The man said he had no idea what a woman wanted.

The other woman said she knew enough for both of them.

The man said he didn't doubt it.

The man and the other woman both thought about the woman.

The other woman said the other man could have done it.

The man said that as far as he knew, he could have done it himself.

She asked if it was possible.

The man said anything was possible. He said he couldn't remember anything before two mornings ago.

The other woman said she couldn't remember anything before two mornings ago either, but she didn't think that meant she could have done it.

The man asked why.

The other woman did not answer.

After a long silence, the other woman said it was raining.

The man said he could hear it.

The other woman asked if he was sure he could dig in the rain.

The man did not answer. He could dig in the rain. He could sweat in the rain. Saying whether or not he could dig in the rain did not change anything.

The other woman said wouldn't it look suspicious if the man was the one who found the body of the woman.

The man said he didn't care how it would look. The body needed to be found by someone. Besides it would look even more suspicious if he refused to help in the search, even though he still didn't care how things would look.

The man thanked the other woman again for the food and told her it had been good.

She said he had already said that.

He said it was worth saying twice.

The man left the place where the other man and the other woman lived.

The other woman told him if he found him, or parts of him, to please bring him, or the parts of him, to her himself rather than let that law enforcer do it.

The man said he would if he did, but there were other possibilities that involved the other man too, so don't be surprised if--

She said nothing would surprise her.

The man went to the river in the rain.

The law enforcer waited near the river. He said no one else had appeared because of the rain.

The man told the law enforcer to give him a shovel and show him where to dig.

The law enforcer asked the man if he could dig in the rain.

The man said he worked in the rain whenever it rained on a workday.

The law enforcer asked if the man ever got cold working in the rain.

The man said he could be cold in a cold rain, but he also said that a little work could warm him even when it snowed. He said he could work and sweat in any weather. And the rain that day was warm so it did not matter anyway.

The law enforcer said he would let the man dig.

The man said the law enforcer could tell him where to dig.

The law enforcer showed him three areas in the meadow where the man could dig.

The man began to dig. The law enforcer stood under a tree and watched the man dig.

When the man had dug the first hole until it was as deep as he was tall, the law enforcer said the man could fill in the hole and try the second location. So he did.

When the man had dug the second hole until it was as deep as he was tall, the law enforcer said the man could fill in the hole and try the third location. So he did.

While the man dug the third hole, the law enforcer covered his head and walked around the meadow looking for other places where the man could dig.

When the man had dug the third hole until it was as deep as his shoulders, his shovel struck something. He saw the law enforcer standing under a tree on the other side of the meadow. He saw that the law enforcer paid no attention to him.

The man knelt in the hole and brushed away the dirt that covered the thing that the shovel had struck. The thing beneath the dirt began to glow. It glowed like a simile. A moment later the man knew exactly what he had found. The thing was a metaphor.

The man glanced at the law enforcer on the other side of the meadow. He cleaned the dirty and muddy metaphor the best he could with his fingers. It glowed even stronger. The man put the metaphor in his pocket and continued digging.

When the man had dug the third hole until it was as deep as he was tall, the law enforcer yelled across the meadow that the man could fill in the hole and the law enforcer would show him where to dig next. So he did. And he did. And he did.

The man dug all day in the rain, but he did not find the body of the woman. He also did not find any part of the other man. He also did not find anything as interesting as another metaphor, not even a metaphor that did not glow like a simile.

The law enforcer said they would try again the next day. The man said he had to work the next day. The law enforcer asked him for one more day. The man said he would try again for one more day.

The man cleaned himself. He was hungry. He had forgotten to bring food with him for his noon meal. But he could work a full day without a noon meal--so long as he had a good evening meal afterwards. He thought about the other woman. He asked himself if he would show the other woman the metaphor he had found, the metaphor that glowed like a simile. He decided he would.

When the man approached the place where the other man and the other woman lived, the man saw the other man embracing the other woman. The man hid behind a tree.

The other man and the other woman entered the place where they lived.

The man went up the hill to the place where he lived and had lived with the woman. The beast was not around.

The man prepared food for himself and he ate. Only then did he realize that he was distraught. He did not think he had ever been so tired and low after a hard day of work. A day of hard work.

The man remembered his metaphor. He felt better.

The man went to sleep. The metaphor occupied the place where the woman had slept in the days before she had disappeared.