Four men gingerly carried the crate from the wagon into a small, high-walled back yard. A stout man, with a red sweater that sagged generously at the neck, came out and signed the book for the driver.
And when we steamed slowly out of the lagoon, making our way gingerly through the opening in the reef, and then steered for the open sea, a certain melancholy fell upon me.
He fell, face forward, onto cold stone and felt the bridge of his glasses snap. Dizzy and bruised, covered insoot, he got gingerly to his feet, holding his broken glasses up to his eyes.
Usually he was gingerly when he did this, as if he anticipated being impatiently shaken off, but tonight there was a far-off look in his eyes and his arm was firm about her waist.
The interactions we've dreamed of may be packed with uncomfortable pauses, gingerly approached embraces, hesitations before crossing a bar's threshold.