"It couldn't have rained any harder," he thought to himself as he entered the theater with a little girl by his side, his coat forming a waterfall around them in the heavy downpour. The glimmer of the lobby radiated with culture and dignity... and their awe.

Shaking themselves off and working their way up the carpeted marble stairs, he couldn't keep his eyes off of the most glamorous 'thing' in the building, her red, satin dress. It came that close to matching what he could always see in her green eyes.

With a sigh of disappointment from her, his eyes shifted... wondering what could have caused it. The sign read:

He let out a similar sigh, but put forward the notion that they at least see the theater that they had been so anxious to be captivated by. Agreeing, they walked back downstairs and into the main doors, after having convinced the doorman to let them at least look. It must have been her beautiful, seductive smile, but he shook that thought off as they walked in.

Seeing his beloved ten-year-old girl slowly walk forward into the most beautiful of theaters stunned and froze him. To this day, his heart knew the glamour that gold can bring. The chairs were a magnificent royal blue with gold etchings and were something one could disappear into in terms of comfort. As he sat down in one and gazed towards the stage she was now walking towards, he forgot where he was....

Slowly he began to come terms with the fantasy that was now a reality. Lifting himself off of the golden chair, he walked up to meet up with the beautiful child on the wide stage. The huge, gold laced curtains were still down, but much of the open stage was uncovered by them.

Looking down at a notch in one of the center tiles, she asked, "What's this?" as she pointed at it with her little shoe. He went on to describe, "This is the center stage mark. If you stand there and speak, the whole audience will hear you with crystal clarity, equally at the front as at the back. "'Tis from the amphitheaters of ancient Rome."

Her tiny eyebrow raised as she glanced down at the groove with newly found knowledge. She stepped up and said in her soft voice, "Hear ye, hear ye..." Then looked back at him and his eyes that cherished her. "I... love you." she said. As he smiled, he reach out and held her hands. In a quiet voice, with an equally quiet smile, he whispered, "I love you too, angel."

Then a booming voice startled them both, "Alright, now that everybody knows you two love each other, I have to ask that the hall be vacated." It was the guard way out on the far side of the theater by the main doors. With a smile of amazement on her little brightened face, she grinned, then they laughed a little.

As they exited the lobby, the rain continued to pour....

They walked down a couple of blocks under the eavesdrops of the stores and buildings now closed for the night until they reached a street they had to cross. He walked out a bit to press the button, but her tender grip tightened, giving a little shriek of horror as she dashed towards the nearest eavesdrop.

"What? It's just rain," he said gleefully, spreading his arms out as he quickly begin to get soaked.

"I don't want to get all wet," she said in a pouting voice.

"Who cares, it's just water. You won't die. Let the water touch your bare skin. Forget makeup, let the rain wash it away."

"I'll look horrible!"

With a smile on his face he said, "No. Let the rain wash it away. Be a child. There's nothing more beautiful than that!" She started saying something, but he quickly  interrupt. "When I saw you walk down the aisle in the theater I didn't know where I was. There was so much gold emanating from everything. The chairs, the curtains, the aisle itself, your beautiful dress. All of a sudden I couldn't see you. Glittering gold is not what I see in you. I see something that nothing could ever compare. And guess what? As little as you are, you are more beautiful than anything in the whole wide world." He stopped to catch his breath, but only for a moment. "I love you, Ellie."

He wasn't sure if the rain got heavier or if it just sounded louder in the silence that followed. Looking into his eyes the whole time, she suddenly dropped her coat and walked straight towards him. He took her small body in his arms and their lips met. Her little arms wrapped around him above his shoulders and his wrapped around her slender waist. The rain continued to fall on them like a shower of tiny bright stars.

Arriving at their lofty and dimly lit apartment, the dining table was spread with a wide assortment of foods. Small bits of cooked chicken, a wide platter of fruit, cubed vegetables... They sat across from each other of the round, wooden table.

Sitting at their places, they wore nothing more than bathrobes... loosely done up. As if either of them wanted to stay in those dripping wet, totally soaked clothes that seemed to make their skin crawl with the chill it gave by simply wearing them. Preparing all the food was something of an experience in itself. They did everything together... as one.

The fire flickered a little off in the near distance, the lights dimly lit, making the food on the table glow... almost like gold in a way. Reaching ahead, they put a small variety of things on their plates. Getting into a little contest, they start playing with their food a little. Cucumbers became smiles, carrots and beans become walrus teeth...

Eating contentedly he would look up and watch the little girl do the same. His eyes seemed to focus more on her precious smile as she ate away and soon, the only thing he could see... was her moistened lips.... Then she grabbed a peeled orange and her teeth dived into it. He couldn't help but see the orange. Her full lips surrounded and sealed around it and as she pulled away, it seemed as though it were her lips that had ravaged the chunk of orange that was now being savored by her savory tongue.

Giving a quick exhale... or was it a high pitched moan?... her twelve-year-old hand reached down, her huge eyes still glaring into his. The orange was crushed as she forced it into her small mouth, the juice flowing down her soft chin, then her neck, as her still flat chest responded to cold chill... opening her robe a little more. Their breathing became erratic as he watched her lick the orange juice from her fingers.

Her hand shaking a little, her soft voice giggling like in a mischievous little girl that she was, she reached over and picked up her glass of milk. Titling her blond head back a fair bit, the glass followed. The contents of the large glass flowed into her, yet most flowed down and around her... around her cheeks... down her neck... and down her flat chest...

His lips welcomed her when she walked to him so small and tender, his hands held her, hugged her, cherished her... Their kissing and breathing intensified immeasurably as his arms moved inwards and pulled both sides of her little robe quickly away, pulling her arms outward as it dropped to the floor. Her hands come back strongly, moving down his chest and onto his back where her tiny fingernails pressed firmly against his skin as they dragged down. His body moved closer to hers in response to her fingernails as his arms surrounded her back and pull the little girl close to him. Their hearts alone, pounding that close to each other, paved the way for the sweetest love they ever knew.

For hours they kissed each other more vividly than lovers could ever dream. For hours their bodies couldn't stop shaking as their breaths and aching muscles could not keep up with the pleasures. For hours they cried out each other's names. For hours they broke into each other's soul and explored them... to their very own pleasure. At the end of forever, their bodies were tangled in the sheets together as they capitulated with their wills. Their bodies had, at least once, matched the intensity of the hearts beating inside the both of them.

Gleaming light shone through the small breaks of the drapes upon the rising of the sun. He woke up finding her lying closely by his side. As he stretched, the little girl's eyes began to flutter as she joined him back in consciousness. He smiled as he rolled over, next to his little ten-year-old lover. His arms wrapped around her tender form while carrying her body with him so that her body was now touching his in every way as her innocent eyes peered straight into him as his did into hers.

She smiled when he begin to rub her soft chest slowly and gently... Her arms slowly dropped to floor, her precious heart and body swallowing every sensation his hands were giving.

Feeling a sense of comfort and devoted love she had never felt before in ten years of her short life, she said, "Promise me you'll never stop touching me the way you do."

The End