The Pillow Book: 20. First Things

20. First Things

xxxThe first time I entered a storytelling competition, I told the story of the greedy dog. Snapping the bone in the water, he lost the bone in the mouth.
xxxThe first time I fell in school, I muddied my white shorts. Terrified of looking as if I had fouled myself, I tried to clean my arse on the white walls. The stain not only stayed but spread.
xxxI was thirteen the first time I published a poem. It was about looking at the rain lash the bronze back of the land.
xxxThe first time I fell in love, I was talking to God. After Darren prayed for me in Lee Abbey, I could hardly stay away from him. At the Lord's supper, I could hardly wait for the body of Christ to give each other the sign of the peace, when I could hold him briefly. I was twenty-one.
xxxI had to bring a date for the Civil Service Dinner and so I brought a girl out for the first time.
xxxThe first time I saw New York was like the first time I saw Oxford, although one was more like a movie and the other more like a book. A book is harder to close.
xxxI was thirty-three the first time I had sex. I was so excited that I could not come. I had to leave the bed and go to the bathroom to lose it.

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