Smoke curled upwards in a narrow wisp into
the dark night sky. The meager ice shack sat off the road where just 'any
passer by' couldn't see it. Lucy would have missed it too, but there was smoke
and smoke meant people. She had passed it so many times on her hikes down to
the river behind her house. Signs of life littered the ground around the
chipboard box. Her breath caught in her throat as she thought of who might be
living in there. The weather had been bitterly cold lately and this night was
no exception with the snow crunching under her feet as she hurried up the back
steps and onto the porch of her country home.
The view from her heart had been cracked wide open over the past month. Love, making her able to see and hear things that others couldn't. That boy at school who past her office too early every morning; he was crashing and no one seemed to see it. Then it was the librarian facing her first Christmas after her dad went on ahead of her. Why couldn't people see she wasn't sleeping well, even still. So much had been seen through the wide angle view that she was afraid of what the night might bring. What was she thinking?! Asking for opportunities?! Was she nuts?! Unsure of how to approach this new neighbor, Lucy stared out from behind the curtains and through the frosting glass. What if the inhabitants of the shack were dangerous, what if they were hiding out from the law? The excuses and Love clashed in the air above her head. Excuses would turn the dead bolt and put 911 on speed dial. Close the curtains, heap up the fire and curl up with that great book she'd started and just drift away. Ah, but then Love would don it's coat and shuck a blanket over its arm and tuck an invitation under the other. Boots on, down the steps and off across the yard with my loyal dog following close behind. Lucy stopped in the middle of the yard...looking ahead she saw a dim light under the door of the miserable little place...turning back to see her house with it's glowing icicle lights dripping off the eves. And the snow crunched under her feet...
The view from her heart had been cracked wide open over the past month. Love, making her able to see and hear things that others couldn't. That boy at school who past her office too early every morning; he was crashing and no one seemed to see it. Then it was the librarian facing her first Christmas after her dad went on ahead of her. Why couldn't people see she wasn't sleeping well, even still. So much had been seen through the wide angle view that she was afraid of what the night might bring. What was she thinking?! Asking for opportunities?! Was she nuts?! Unsure of how to approach this new neighbor, Lucy stared out from behind the curtains and through the frosting glass. What if the inhabitants of the shack were dangerous, what if they were hiding out from the law? The excuses and Love clashed in the air above her head. Excuses would turn the dead bolt and put 911 on speed dial. Close the curtains, heap up the fire and curl up with that great book she'd started and just drift away. Ah, but then Love would don it's coat and shuck a blanket over its arm and tuck an invitation under the other. Boots on, down the steps and off across the yard with my loyal dog following close behind. Lucy stopped in the middle of the yard...looking ahead she saw a dim light under the door of the miserable little place...turning back to see her house with it's glowing icicle lights dripping off the eves. And the snow crunched under her feet...
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