Luca couldn’t find a rational explanation for why she was afraid of this vacation. She deserved a little rest. Still, she felt anxious. Maybe it was the ring, although she saw no reason to be upset about it; it was the natural way of things.

She had been packing clothes into a borrowed suitcase for herself and Robi, that was when she found the engagement ring among his clothes. It fell out of the back pocket of a pair of jeans. For a moment she considered taking the ring out to the garden and burying it in the ground. It wouldn’t have made any sense to plant it in the soil like a seed, yet it seemed such an impossible place that Robi would never find it. She could have also flushed it down the toilet, but then it might clog the pipes. She put it back in the pocket, folded the pants, and slid them to the bottom of the suitcase.

Of course they had gone on vacations together before. They spent a few days at the mouth of the Tisza-Bodrog River two years ago. They had only been together for a couple of weeks at the time. Her most vivid memory was the smell of the sunscreen Robi would oil her back with. Those days they fucked nonstop.

Last year they traveled to Prague. They drank a lot of local beer, far superior to Hungarian products, they had to admit. They saw the museums and bridges and jewelry stores and talked about how beautiful Prague was, feeling a pang of jealousy over it, as Budapest seemed gray in comparison. They brought some weed along with them; at night they rolled massive joints, and only after the second night did they notice that their hostel was right next door to a police station. They laughed.

By the Tisza they forced their way into each others’ bodies like impatient explorers into the wilderness. In Prague they made love slowly and calmly, traveling roads now well known. They had all the time in the world.

But now Luca felt like time was slipping through her hands. Maybe a holiday was just what she needed to set her mind straight, to get a grip on things.

They left home quite late. Robi had been out the night before on a company team-building exercise. Luca had stayed home, drinking red wine and watching a documentary about the recycling of rubber tires. She had specifically asked Robi to come home early so they could leave before sunrise to avoid the heat.

He came home late and drunk.