The Reader (1)

Part 2, Chapter 1.

After Hanna left the city, it took a while before i stopped watching for her everywhere, before i got used to the fact that afternoons has lost their shape, and before i could look at books and open them without asking myself whether they were suitable for reading aloud. It took a while before my body stopped yearning for hers; sometimes I myself was aware of my arms and legs groping for her in my sleep, and my brother reported more than once at table that I had called out "Hanna" in the night. I can also remember classes at school when i did nothing but dream of her, think of her. The feeling of guilt that had tortured me in the first weeks gradually faded. I avoided her building, took other routes, and six months later my family moved to another part of town.