Brady Damron arrived at the Columbus airport late Friday afternoon and was told that his flight had been cancelled. There would be no flights out until Monday. Having just spent the week working with Craftwood, a kitchen cabinet manufacturer in Arkana, he wasn’t looking forward to spending the weekend in Starkville, the home of Mississippi State University. Checking at the Marriott for a room he was told that this was the weekend of the Mississippi State/Ole Miss football game. Every accommodation in town was fully booked. Frustrated, he drove the short distance to the Bully (named for the Mississippi State mascot Bulldog), a popular collegiate bar and restaurant where he would have a couple of beers and a barbecue dinner. At least he would be able to ogle some of the beautiful southern gals who co-eds at the university.

When he got there the Bully was jammed. Because Brady had been a regular customer over the years the manager moved him ahead of another couple and seated him at a table for two that had just opened up. As he was sitting down he noticed four sorority girls having beers at the table just across from his. Having ordered a pitcher of beer he was peeling a plate of boiled shrimp when he heard a raucous chorus of laughter coming from that table. Looking over he saw that each of the four girls were looking at him as they laughed. He thought they might be laughing at something he had done and was uncomfortable. Glancing at the table again he saw that the girl sitting directly opposite him was stifling a laugh, looking at him through downcast eyes but was blushing. She mouthed words in direction: “I’m sorry.”

Figuring that the girl said something naughty about him Brady recalled some of the numerous embarrassing moments he had caused himself in his life and simply overlooked it. Nodding back to her he mouthed, “No problem, you’re forgiven.”

She blushed again, gave him a demure smile and mouthed, “Thank you.” The look she gave him made him realize how attractive the girl was and he thought, Jesus, you’re a doll.

Just as he had finished peeling all the shrimp he dipped one in chili sauce mixed with horseradish and took a bite. Hearing the scraping of chairs at the table where the girls were sitting he looked over to see three of the girls getting up, apparently leaving. But the girl with whom he had been lip synching sat resolutely as the rest of her friends were walking away laughing and shaking their heads. They seemed to be making fun of her.

A couple of fraternity guys walked up to the girl. Though she wasn’t an absolute beauty queen she was still an attractive, demure and soft looking southern belle. When the guys started to sit down at her table she shook her head, said something to them and nodded in Brady’s direction. Both of the fraternity men looked at Brady, laughed and looked back at the girl. He heard one of them say, “You’ve got to be kidding Darlie.” Shaking their heads the two young men walked away. As they passed, one looked at Brady with a malevolent smirk and sarcastic laugh.

Amid the buzzing, boisterous crowd of college students that were getting hyped for the big game the next day Brady sat eating his shrimp. Suddenly he realized that the girl was standing next to his table. Dressed in college preppie attire, a white blouse under a red cardigan sweater, a flaring knee length black pleated skirt and saddle shoes with white anklet socks; she was looking down at him. Brady was fifty. He couldn’t figure out what was on her mind. She was maybe twenty-one or twenty-two, a fetchingly attractive girl with long dark hair, blue eyes and the kind of pouting lips that begged to be kissed. She asked, “Do you mind if I sit down?”

Like many mature men Brady often fantasized being with a girl young enough to be his daughter but never really expected that he would. Puzzled he stood up, moved around behind the chair on the other side of the table and pulled it out for her. “I’d be pleased to have you sit with me,” he said. “I’m just a little puzzled as to why you would WANT to.” There was no question that she was flirting with him. Chuckling he went on, “You have the pick these young, college men young lady, why would you choose a man my age?”

Sitting down she said, “None of these boys would have bothered to tend my chair for me.” With a mock look of shock she coyly put her hand over her mouth and giggled. “They might pull it out from under me. But not in the gentlemanly way you have.” Like a proper young lady she folded her hands in her lap and said, “When I first noticed you I was hoping you would be just such a gentleman.” What the hell is going on here, he thought.

The way she said it was so southern: Chair sounded like chay-a, gentleman sounded like gentlemayan. And instead of saying “you” she said it the southern way, “you.” To Brady it almost seemed like he was being addressed by a girl from the movie Gone with the Wind. Reaching across the table she extended her hand and said, “My name is Darlie, Darlie Culbertson.”

He took her hand in his. It was soft yet firm. “I’m Brady Damron, Darlie Culbertson,” he replied. “I’m pleased to meet you.” Her mouth glowed with a fresh-toothed grin and she batted her eyes. She was gorgeous. Clearing his throat Brady said, “May I ask you, Darlie Culbertson, what interests you in sitting with a man who is old enough to be your father?”

In her captivating southern drawl she said, “I deeply love ma fatha, sir. He is a true suthn gentleman.” She flashed a confident smile. “Though you are a Yankee Mistah Damron, you carry yourself like gentleman. I’m partial to gentlemen. I hope you don’t mind.”

Realty told Brady that any kind of involvement with a woman of this age was out of the question. Hell, she’s barely even a woman. It’s not that he hadn’t screwed around in his life. He’d done it many times. But he’d always been more comfortable with older, more mature women—Tess McBride for example, the receptionist at Craftwood Kitchen Cabinets in Arkana. Tess was a woman of nearly fifty. She knew all about the pleasures of her body, and what it had to offer a man like Brady. She had the patience to wait for and enjoy each sensual spot being explored by a man who knew how to open such sensual locks. Tess had come to Brady’s cottage at Oktapotomi once during the last week.

Then there was Wilma Dillard, Assistant to the President of Craftwood Kitchen Cabinets. And what an unusual woman she was. She and Brady spent much of Tuesday night together. Brady doubted that this young woman across from him would have the patience he was comfortable with in an older woman like Wilma. Besides Wilma was a pro. If he should be so lucky to spend the night with this beautiful young girl he imagined she would probably want some fast and easy thrills. But Brady was no different than any fifty year old man, susceptible to the pull of an attractive, youthful woman whose body is at the pinnacle of perfection.

Just as he was about to excuse himself and exhort the young studs in the Bully to, “go to it boys,” he thought what the hell and said, “You’ll probably be going back to your sorority house, Darlie Culbertson, getting ready for the big game tomorrow.” It was a graceful way to test the waters. He had no realistic hope that anything would come of it. With Tess’s husband back from hauling lumber downstate Brady, unable to get a flight home, had resigned himself to spending the weekend alone with his five-fingered friend. Wilma? She’ll be working her night job at the reception desk of the Oktapotomi. He laughed and thought, who would even believe me if I told them why the Assistant to the President of Craftwood was doing that? He shook his head as he thought funny stuff goes on down here in the south.

With a trifling smile Darlie toyed absently with a lock of her hair and said, “To tell you the truth Mr. Damron I’m not as wild about football as most of the students at State are. I’m rather enjoying the pleasure of your company.” Gently clasping her hands she placed them on top of the table and added, “That is if you don’t mind spending a little more time with an inexperienced sorority girl like me.”

The way the girl was coming on to him convinced Brady that he was being set up for some kind of college prank. Nonetheless his heightened pulse was smoothing out the wrinkles of his limp dick. He chuckled and said, “My plane developed engine trouble Darlie Culbertson and I’m stuck in Mississippi until Monday morning.” Thinking hard about saying what was on his mind he wondered what kind of hook the girl was trying to set. “But I don’t expect what you’re talking about is spending THAT much time with this older man.” Having called her bluff he expected to see a change in her bearing that would indicate that he misread her meaning. Looking around the restaurant to see if her sorority sisters were lurking he saw no trace of them. The way Darlie looked so deeply into his eyes was as if she was getting ready to scold him for thinking something outrageous.

She pouted and said, “Tsk, tsk, Mr. Damron.”

Embarrassed, Brady tried not to act like he had done something outlandish. By the way she was looking at him he knew that he couldn’t hide the surprise on his face. The cat was already out of the bag when he started to say, “I...”

Reaching across the table she touched his lips with her index finger to silence him and said, “I’m such a terrible flirt Mr. Damron, may I call you Brady?” Still trying to figure out whether it was a game or not he nodded.

“I know I’m a tease Mr., I mean Brady, but these boys are hitting on me ALL the time. They ask me things like ‘Darlie do you want to fuck?’ She rolled her eyes. The expression on her face was as if she might have been talking with her therapist rather than a stranger. “Excuse my language Brady but they actually say things like that. Or they’ll say, ‘How about giving me a little head?’” Her cheeks tinged pink then her face turned bright red. “Too many college boys don’t know what actin like a gentleman is. I shouldn’t even have repeated such coarse language but it’s getting absolutely terrible. You must think that Darlie Culbertson is terrible to be sayin these things.”

She squeezed his hand and said, “You just made a suggestion ... a sophisticated suggestion I might add. I feel compelled to say to you Mr. Brady Damron that the mature way you are approaching me appeals to my sense of romance. It appeals to me VERY much.” Brady was amazed at how cool she was. She went on. “I told you that I prefer the company of an older man Brady, a man just like you.” Turning his hand over, she traced his lifeline with her middle finger.

Damn that’s suggestive, he thought. And it tickles too. He felt a tingle in his groin.

“I told ya Brady how much I adore my Daddy. And you do remind me so MUCH of him. What could be better than spending a little more time with a man like you, a man like my Daddy?“

The signals were unmistakable. Though the mention of ‘Daddy’ made Brady a bit uncomfortable he cleared his throat said, “All of the rooms in town are sold out for the game Darlie. But I know that there is a cottage still available at the Oktapotomi Inn in Arkana. I’ve been staying there all week.” The Oktapotomi was a forty minute drive from the Bully. Brady thought she wouldn’t go for it.

Darlie giggled. “I’ve spent many a weekend there with my church youth group Brady. I love Oktapotomi.” She cocked her head, smiled and asked, “And you have a cottage?”

“I’ve been staying in one of the cottages all the week Darlie,” Brady said. “I happen to know that it’s still vacant.”

Squeezing his hand Darlie grinned and said, “A cottage by the lake will be just the PERFECT spot for us to,” (she cleared her throat) “become acquainted with one another.” Flashing her glorious smile she winked.

It was the last week in September but the weather in Northern Mississippi that year was incredibly warm and balmy. Brady was driving a rented Chrysler Sebring convertible. The top was down and Darlie’s hair was blowing in the breeze. He scanned the car radio through country music: soft rock, gospel and oldies. In deference to the girl’s youth he settled on a more modern rock station. She reached the radio, turned it back to an oldies station and left it. “Daddy likes the oldies stations Brady. And being an old fashioned girl I’m influenced by my parents.”

He was getting a picture of what could have been going on in the Culbertson family. Though taboo he found that the thought it was a turning him on. “Are you close to your mother as well Darlie?”

“Mama died when I was just a little girl,” she said with a suggestive raise of the eyebrows. “I guess that’s why we’re closer than most daddies and their daughters.” Holding her index finger to her lips she said with an impish grin, “Shh, don’t tell my sorority sisters.”

Shocked by the tenor of her comment he thought what the hell? The he considered, it’s none of my business. He was surprised though the way she was intimating such secrets to a stranger. But it aroused him very much.

“I bet when you were my age Brady you didn’t have these bothersome seatbelts to pin you to the seat.”

“Nope,” he answered. “But you can’t deny how much safer driving in a car is because of them.” He heard the click of her seatbelt and felt the seat move as Darlie scooted close beside him.

“Well,” she said, “what fun is life if we can’t take a risk from time to time?” She snuggled up to him and rested her hand in his lap. As he put his arm over her shoulders he knew that he could be arrested if a trooper pulled up behind him. But he wasn’t going to spoil the mood. It was only a couple more miles before Darlie fumbled with two buttons on his shirt and had her hand inside, caressing the bare flesh of Brady’s chest and stomach.

“I’m glad you aren’t wearin a t-shirt Mr. Brady Damron. I love the feel of a man’s skin, particularly on a man who takes such good care of himself.”

He wondered how many men she had been involved with. Were they all older? How often had she felt her father’s skin this way ... or other ways? Brady didn’t wonder how it was affecting him though. Stiff as a board he could feel by the pulsation of blood against his eardrums, the blood that was ironing out the wrinkles of his penis. Undoing more buttons Darlie opened his shirt and pecked his naked skin with her soft lips. Circling his tingling areolas with her tongue she looked up and asked, “Do you mind being with such a precocious little girl Brady?”

Barely able to answer in a steady voice he said, “Actually Darlie I can’t find any fault with it at all,” wondering where this forward “little” girl was going from here.

Forcing her flattened hand inside the waist of his pants she murmured, “I just love being naughty.” He sucked his belly in to give her hand more room. Working his belt buckle loose she whispered, “I think this is a little too tight, don’t you Brady?” Silently he just kept is eyes on the road. She unbuttoned his pants and zipped him down. As she wrapped her fingers around his erection Brady clamped the cheeks of his butt and gritted his teeth to stall and urge to explode. Darlie said in a kittenish voice, “Brady, you have such an impressive um ... handful.” She giggled.

He laughed and exploded a nervous “ha-ha-ha” in relief from holding his breath for so long.

“Mmm,” she sighed as she held his cock against her cheek, scrunching it like a cat rolling in catnip. Looking down Brady saw the reflection of the moon in the tiny pool of precum that had smeared her shoulder of the dark Mississippi road.

The combination of lustful thoughts, soft music and the balmy southern ambiance cast its spell. The pulse in both ears matched the throbbing of his cock. Turning up the volume on the radio he felt a longing in the pit of his stomach as he wondered; could I have had an incestuous relationship with my own daughter?

“It’s pretty” She said.

“What Darlie?”

“Your penis silly. Your penis is absolutely beautiful Brady Damron.” She was holding it erect, pointing it straight upward—although she didn’t need to. He winced as he felt the stream of cool air from her pursed lips blowing on his shiny, purplish head. Having never heard his cock referred to as ‘beautiful’ before he was captivated what she said and what she was doing.

Breaking the reverie Darlie giggled, “tee-hee-hee, Brady Damron’s manhood is callin for more of li’l Darlie’s attention.”

The head lights blazed on each white dash in the middle of the road. They seemed to be counting the miles to Lake Oktapotomi. Concentrating very hard to get there safely Damron’s body was awash with the anticipation of what was. As her head moved downward Darlie’s hair rustled deliciously on Brady’s exposed chest and stomach. When he felt the moues of her soft lips kissing the tip of his head, a long sibilance escaped his lips. The soft pecking of the girl’s lips against the skin of his cock nearly made him explode. He widened his eyes to make sure that he was paying attention to the dark, narrow road. His Adam’s apple moved in his neck as he swallowed, anticipating the feeling of what would happen next.

As he felt the tip or her warm tongue smearing her saliva over the taught, shiny surface of his hardened glans, a series of micro-shocks coursed through his body. When her tongue unfolded into the groove on the bottom of his glans Brady’s toes made a foot-fist and nearly cramped. She licked the rim of his helmet then drew a line down the center, pausing at his seeping slit. Try as he might Damron couldn’t stop the oozing substance that found its way to the tip of his throbbing erection. His knuckles whitened grip on the steering wheel. Wishing to close his eyes he dared not. His excitement got ahead of him. He gasped, “Darlie, I’m ... I’m afraid I can’t hold BACK.”

She handled the situation as calmly as a nurse at a trauma center. Casually her lips, like soft O-rings, closed over Brady’s tapered head. Though he knew he wouldn’t gush inside her mouth without warning her he was having a difficult time concentrating on the road. The sign: Lake Oktapotomi two miles ahead acted like a stopcock, closing the 0’ring of his cum-valve. Gasping as Darlie’s soft lips slid further down his shaft, his achingly sensitive head touched the warm, pebbly wetness of her soft palate. Slowing to make the right turn Damron did his best for the next mile and a half to hold his foot steady on the accelerator. Darlie, like a seasoned hooker pressed her finger hard against the underside of is cock to hold back his surge. How many times had she done this to her daddy he thought—or to some other stranger she’s picked up.

He could see the dim lights of the Oktapotomi. It was not a motel by road standards; it was more like a country Inn, set off the road on the edge of a lake. The lights of the car were shining on the lake before the car tires crunched over the gravel parking lot and stopped. Having the edge taking off when he saw Oktapotomi sign he whispered, “I don’t want to come in your mouth Darlie, at least not yet. And I need to go in and register.”

She sucked in as she pulled her lips up his shaft and came off his knob with a gentle “pop.” With a saucy smile the girl said, “I love havin your organ (sounded like awgun) in my mouth Brady.”

The ejaculatory crisis had passed. Looking into her blue eyes Brady saw his reflection caused by the soft amber lights in the parking lot. They kissed. Her lips, like any woman who had just fellated an engorged penis, were incredibly soft. The warm zephyr from her nostrils washed the side of his face as her lips parted slightly, taking his with them. She licked the inner surface of his cheek; the tip of her tongue moving around and over Brady’s. He took a youthful kind of delight in fondling a young girl in a car again which excited his imagination. Whenever he pushed the hem of a woman’s skirt up her smooth, bare legs and his thoughts of where his hand was going always caused a filling and tightening of his maleness that being naked didn’t necessarily accomplish as quickly. It must have been the joy of the unknown and its mystery.

As their lips and tongues tingled in their sensuous meanderings it seemed as if his entire body couldn’t be any more involved. Saliva leaked out of their lips and sagged down the sides of their chins. When he touched the panel of Darlie’s silk panties he found them soaked with the drippings of her sex. As the excitement of being with a woman so young and eager overwhelmed him a shocking sensation shot to his genitals. Once again he had to cramp the cheeks of his ass to keep from coming in his pants.

The contours of Darlie’s body were magic to him. Where he was accustomed to women who were soft and sometimes overweight the young co-ed was lithe and muscular. Extending his middle finger he felt the combined puffiness of her large lips and in his mind created the image of her soft crack waiting to be explored. Pressing the fabric between her soft lips his finger immediately touched the node of her unusually large clitoris. Bucking forward in the seat she closed her thighs on his hand, tightly holding it in place. Brady pushed with his finger and circled her bulging sex-node, feeling juicy dampness wicking through the mesh of her panties. As he pushed his hand against her clit she met him and he pressed in a circle while her hips gyrated. As she broke the seal of their kissing lips tiny strings of saliva stretched and snapped. Through their tightly compressed lips a muffled “mmmmmph,” told Brady of her rising passion.

He had to feel the reality of her uncovered sex, pulling the bunched and damp panel of her panties aside. With his finger skating in her lusciously wet groove he slid it back up to her agitated clitoris. As he touched its tip and wiggled it she broke the kiss and let out a thrilled, “OOH.” Her thighs opened and closed, almost clapping as the bare skin touched. Her hips bucked and twisted as his finger skimmed her electrified bump. Knowing the exhilaration of this magic button Brady glowed with pride as he touched it with passionate purpose. Darlie’s gyrations: circling, bucking forward and humping was accompanied with “yesses” and “uh huh’s.” Her neck, which rested on the back of the seat moved back as her body writhed in ecstasy and her head wagged.

Sharply Darlie’s legs smothered Brady’s hand and she gasped, “Mmmmmmm-ahhhhhhh-Aaahhhhh, OHH.” He felt the spasms high up in her legs and in her vaginal lips, once, twice, three times. There was a slight pause then more two quick jerks. Then silence, the sound of crickets around the lake making the only noise at Oktapotomi. Resting her head on Brady’s shoulder, Darlie finally said, “Oh Daddy that was SO good.”

Jesus, Brady thought, did she call me Daddy? He was so proud that he made her feel good and felt that once they were in the cottage the evening would be magical. But “Daddy” created an aura of sensuous mysticality.

“Evenin Brady,” she said. “Miss your plane?” Wilma Dillard was working the desk.

He told her what had happened and that he would be staying for the next couple of days.

“It is gonna be a slow weekend Brady,” she said. “My clients are all busy somewhere else, probably the MSU/Ole Miss game; I haven’t been this slow in months.”

Brady said, “So why didn’t you just set up shop in Starkville.”

She rolled her eyes and said, “You know me Brady, it’s all return on investment. If I’m gonna have to work extra hard I want it to be with high rollers. I’m not getting any younger you know.”

For all the years he had known Wilma he still found it hard to believe that a woman in such demand who did it for big money would choose to have sex with him for free. Course, there was the fact that she worked for his largest factory. He chuckled as the thought that had been crossing his mind since he began representing Craftwood she could have made a lot of money on me just on blackmail.

“It’s always a freebie for you, ya know Brady?” She winked. “I like you enough to kiss you on the mouth,” something that was off-limits in her profession.

“I’m with someone Wilma.” He didn’t want to hurt her feelings by rejection her.

“I was peekin out the front window and saw you wrestling with what looks to be a purty young girl. Are ya trying out college girls now?”

“I met her at the Bully and she all but attacked me Wilma. You’ve gotta wonder what a young girl sees in an old guy like me.”

Wilma smiled and said, “Might be the same reason I give you those freebies Brady. All the women I know at Craftwood think, ‘Brady Damron’s pretty hot.’”

“To tell you the truth Wilma had I known you would be working tonight I would probably have shined her on and hoped that I could have some real adult sex time with you.”

“Don’t bullshit me Mr. Damron. Men in their fifties can’t resist young pussy.” She had recognized the girl in the open top convertible but didn’t at the moment want Brady to know. “Do you think you might be able to work me in?”

“Well Wilma. I had better get back to my guest. Maybe she’ll be one of those kinds of girls who like threesomes and you can join us.” He was kidding but wished he wasn’t.

“Ya mean like with Tess and me?” (Tess was the receptionist at Craftwood). “It can get pretty lonely here around midnight. If you and your teenaged girlfriend want company I wouldn’t mind joining in. Maybe I could teach her a few tricks.” She winked. She knew Brady was just teasing but might not be had he known what Darlie was really like.

“Interesting offer Wilma but she’s young and new.” Brady laughed and so did Wilma. “Maybe I’ll get back to you on that though.” He knew he probably wouldn’t. “Are you working tomorrow night too?” She smirked and nodded.

As Brady opened the door to the cottage he reached in and turned on the overhead light then stepped back and let Darlie go in first. “See?” she said, “ ... something else the boys back at State would never have done.” When he followed her in she turned and made herself available, the way most women do when walking into a hotel room with a man. He kissed her and they quickly became passionate and, almost as quickly, ended up on the floor fucking with their clothes on. Plunging inside her like a rapist he rode her for only a short time. Unlike being raped though, as her saddle shoes thrust for the ceiling with each slam, Darlie invoked the name of God and urged Brady on with “Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! YES!” her thong giving his tender shaft a slight dose of pantie burn.

With his thinking dulled by being with such an exciting, young woman he came inside her pussy. With a quick pang of concern he wished he didn’t. But as they lay on the floor he let the sexual ambience push that thought to the back of his mind. It seemed that Darlie wasn’t as willing though as she said, “I hope I don’t get pregnant.” This brought a load of recrimination to Brady’s mind that really bothered him. In silence as he snuggled close and let the temporary physical satisfaction wash over them Darlie broke the quiet with, “I’m on the pill, tee-hee-hee”

“Jesus Darlie,” he said in relief, “you had me going there you little scamp.”

“I know he-he. It’s kinda fun isn’t it?”

He didn’t know what her father might have done with her or what she was accustomed to. But as he got up on his knees and walked between hers he said, “Mind if we get your panties off Darlie?” As she lifted her bottom off the floor he worked her thong off and down her legs. Lying on his chest he wiggled up to her, working her legs over his shoulders and covering her wet, cummy pussy with his lips.

“YES,” she wheezed. “I love it when a man licks my pussy with his seed all over it, mmm.”

Brady figured that he would give her the treat that he pleased every woman he had been with. Pressing his lips tightly on her wet and slippery labia he wiggled his tongue inside. Then, like he was blowing up a party balloon he filled pocket with air. Breathing through his nostrils he kept blowing air inside her, expanding it tighter and tighter.

“My God Brady,” she said, “what are you DOING to me?” Like other women she was concerned that he might be doing some kind of damage. “Stop, STOP.” She was nearly full to bursting. Wedging his shoulders under the backs of her thighs he increased the angle of her legs then, with his lips still tight against her pussy he sucked out as hard as he could. The pressure inside her vagina along with his sucking made her walls collapse. With a sodden whoosh Brady’s sperm was expelled into his mouth.

Feeling like her womb might blast out her body Darlie screamed, “My GOD Brady, Oh my GOD.” When she fully realized it was all pleasure she yielded to the ecstasy. It wasn’t as if she did it voluntarily, her body simply writhed and wriggled like a snake that had been captured. Her uncontrolled gasps, yelps and squeals were like those of an overly excited little girl.

As her climax subsided Darlie realized that he still had jism in his mouth and said, “JESUS Brady, you are gonna share it with me aren’t ya ... PLEASE.” Their lips met—hers soft and eager, his passionate and mischievous. As he oozed the warm sperm into her mouth she sighed. When she pushed it back into his he squished it again to hers. Swallowing she licked her lips and with an engaging smile said, “Daddy loves to do that with me.” Rolling her eyes she added, “But LORDY Brady Damron that thing you did to me, blowin air inside me, was heaven.”