The Natural Woman

The Natural Woman by Larry William Koontz In the end, she decided, it had all been relatively easy. Not in the sense that it had been effortless because that was far from the truth; but rather, in the sense that it had all worked out as she had hoped and without any insurmountable difficulties. Of course, there had been problems. She smiled to herself. Trials and tribulations made it sound too noble; raised it above the basic, earthy experience that it was; made it sound very unlike herself. Still, trials and tribulations was an accurate description. She looked down at her left hand as she rotated it slowly, inspecting the flesh and the lines and the changes. It bore proof of the struggle. Calluses from the work; a small, round scar where she had burned herself on the wood stove because of a foolish mistake; the blunt, trimmed back fingernails because long nails were so totally impractical ... all of these were a part of ner year. She raised her right hand in front of her face, not to examine it, but to admire the floating redness in the glass which it 53 held. She swirled the wine gently, then brought it to her lips. To memories. She let the chilled drink run slowly off the back of her tongue, savoring the moment to its fullest, then set the glass down on the upright wooden box beside her bed. The box had been placed there as a temporary bed stand when she settled into the cabin nine months before ; it had somehow survived the days and months to become a permanent fixture . It served its purpose, though, which was all that was needed. Practicality was only one of the lessons she had learned during her year. Standing now, she walked to the fulllength mirror near the bed and undid the long waist clasp that held the flowing white gown together at the front. Enough of the afternoon's sun filtered through the closed curtains so that she could easily see her reflection in the mirror. She felt a warm flow of satisfaction . Despite her Spartan existence, her body still appeared soft and womanly even in its firmness. She pulled the robe back behind her hip and turned to view her profile. In fact, her breasts appeared more erect and her legs more graceful with their toned muscles. Turning back, she noted how dense and wide her pubic hair had become since she no longer trimmed and shaved its fullness to fit her bikini. That weekly ritual had become a necessity for summer swimming at the club. Here, the triangular fullness of her hair was a sign of freedom, a constant reminder of her new awareness and oneness with nature. Here, her body was tanned evenly and entirely from forehead to toes. The three, strategic white patches which used to glare back at her were now conspicuous by their very absence. She smiled. To think about it—to really think about it—was to see how totally absurd it was . . . that various parts of the human body should be cut off from the radiating sun and the fresh air because . . . because of what? Because of restrictions that people put upon themselves through misconception and ignorance? It didn't matter. She understood the wants and needs of her body now, just as she had come to understand a great many other things during her year. She walked back to the bed, took another sip of wine, then dropped the white gown from her shoulders so that it slipped caressingly down her body to the floor. As she started to dress, she realized that there was a certain irony in the closed curtains. It was a habit she had nurtured with strict discipline from the very beginning even though her woods place was so isolated; yet, she had always sunbathed outside totally nude. True, she had been somewhat apprehensive when she first lay there, alone and naked in the small clearing halfway down the southern slope; but her apprehension had been quickly replaced by peace and contentment, by an almost sexual warmth and satisfaction. That was the first time her body had become sexually...