Caroleen sat erect in the carriage next to the older man. She tried to keep a proprietary distance between them for he was a stranger. The voice in her head kept taunting her.<br/><br/>“You will not reject him or be vile to him.” The voice instructed, “but you will not enjoy his caresses in this fleshy temple either. Once he was young and handsome and oh so strong. It looks as if time has been long and unkind to him.”<br/><br/>“Make up your mind,” Caroleen muttered aloud.<br/><br/>The man,<br/><br/>“Ivan,” snapped the voice.<br/><br/>Caroleen squinted her eyes and looked out the window,<br/><br/>Ivan took her hand and gently gave it a loving squeeze. Tears welled in her eyes at the human touch. Caroleen had been married to a man old enough to be her father and she had learned to love him. The grey hair and the lines carved by time were not a deterrent to her forming a favorable opinion of the man, she decided. For her there was no longing for the companionship of a callow lad but she appreciated his mature looks.<br/><br/>“If you respond to him with our flesh, I swear I will make you fart.” Came the petulant voice.<br/><br/>“What is the date?” Caroleen ask, withdrawing her hand and placing it in her lap.<br/><br/>She could tell that her language, although English, was  not the same as had been Teresa’s by the wry look on Ivan’s face. Rather, he was looking at her as if she had been a talking donkey. The carriage rocked along, a gentle sway marked by quick jerks and a bump or two.<br/><br/>Caroleen frowned at the gawking boy who was talking strategies and messages with Ivan. His eyes were much too obvious in their appraisal of Teresa’s body. Caroleen glanced down. Mother of God! In her life, her breasts never looked like that, especially after nursing her children.<br/><br/>“So you and Ivan never had children?” she asked the voice in her head.<br/><br/>“No, never did and never wanted any. I only wanted Ivan and he wanted me. No distractions and nothing to bind us to one place.” The voice snapped as if Caroleen were the stupidest creature on Earth. “You better  help Ivan figure out a way to bring me to the forefront! I want to live again. You are worthless, nothing but a useless slug of a being. Why should you get to inhabit my beautiful body and be with my beloved Ivan. Although, he does look a little worse for wear. But if he can make me live and banish you to outer darkness, we can make him young and virile once more.”