Mansfield, Katherine. "Something Childish but Very Natural".

Summary

Henry (18) almost misses his train when he stops by a book stall and reads Coleridge's love poem "Something Childish but Very Natural". When in the train, he meets Edna (16), falls in love with her, and feels as if he was experiencing the poem he read a while before.

The two develop a platonic relationship: Edna believes they would cease to be children if Henry took her hand or kissed her. Eventually she changes her mind, Henry hires a house in the village where they liked to meet, and waits for her coming. A little girl with a wire arrives and Henry reads it. Evening approaches, but he does not move.