Apollo's Muse

Candice (An Old Book) V

* Pic is inside the village of Oia

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Candice woke early the next day, well before the sunrise. The night was quiet, the curtains drawn, and her room was cool and dark.  She shivered a little, wrapping herself in a velvety robe as she padded across the wooden floor, sinking her toes into the fluffy rug spread in front of the big bay window. She lifted the curtains aside, and breathed the icy freshness on the breeze.

Snow reflected starlight against the evergreen trees, nestled against the stone walls fencing in their front yard. The driveway was scraped clean so that Mum could drive the car in and out, but the yard was freshly coated with new snow, thick and puffy and cold. The neighbors’ houses across the street were dark, and Candice could just hear the gentle hooting of an owl in woods at the end of the street.

So still. 

She shivered again, and was about to draw the curtain and go back to bed when a light caught her eye.

The new neighbors’ house… I wonder who they are?

She peered out the window, trying to discern where the light was coming from. The thickly cloaked branches of the evergreens partially obscured her view, but she could see a window was thrown open and a lamp was switched on. She squinted, curious.

That boy… I wonder if that’s his room? 

She recoiled instinctively when a dark shape moved, silhouetted against the brightness of the window. The figure climbed up the window frame and was inside the house.

A break in? A burglar?

Something about the manner of the figure made her doubt it. She frowned. Suddenly the figure was standing in the window again, looking out into the night. She moved away from the window a little, not wanting to be seen. 

It’s so hard to see! Wait! Binoculars… Thankyou, Uncle Kevin…

She snatched up the big black binoculars sitting on her dresser - ones her uncle had bought her for bird-watching - and scurried back to the window. She lifted them to her eyes and gasped.

It’s him! What is he doing? Climbing in through the window of his own house? Sneaking back in from a party?

She focussed the binoculars more clearly. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a dark plaid shirt, leaning against the window frame and just staring into the night.

Does he see me? No - he can’t - it’s dark in here.

He shifted his hands and before she realized what he was doing, his shirt was tossed onto the dresser behind him. She bit her lip.

Wow. Ah. Okay. What now?

The light wasn’t good, but she could see the sharp outline of broad shoulders and a narrow waist. She watched, curious, a feeling she couldn’t understand curling in her chest. He moved round the room, carrying some objects in his hands and placing them on the dresser. Before she could discern what they were, he stepped up to the window and drew the curtains. 

She lowered the binoculars, disappointed, and feeling a bit embarrassed. Spying on her neighbor? She blushed deeply, thinking of his shirtless torso. 

What is he doing out so early? And why all the sneaking around? There’s something going on here… Something about him is so... different.

She plopped down on her bed and frowned. The books sitting on her desk suddenly caught her eye, and she flicked on her bedside lamp, grabbing the one on top and opening the front cover.