Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

From Memento Mori by Shariann Lewitt (1995, Tom Doherty Associates, Inc, New York, NY; LC: PS3562.E987M46 1995; Dewey: 813'.54-dc20; ISBN: 0-312-85625-3):

It was late and the house was dark, silent, her parents asleep upstairs. Candles and a ligghter were arranged on her bedside table, more on the bureau in front of the mirror. She lit them one by one. The room was bright with warm yellow light, accented with deep shadows.

She lit incense, too, an affectation she had only recently acquired. Light flickered and smoke rose from the cone of frankincense. It reminded her of church. Of the beauty and the mystery, the richness and the quiet. And the fact that a young girl could pray while staring full-face at the statue of a well-made man, flogged and bleeding.