Meet Me After Sundown

The Mysterious Figure

Sleep was not granted to you that night like you hoped. You fell asleep for only a few hours before your body woke you up. You didn't have an alarm clock yet, as you were awaiting it's arrival from the moving van.

Instead you reached for your phone. There wasn't a bedside table, as you were also awaiting its arrival, so you had it plugged in, laying on the floor beside your bed.

11:02

You sighed as you set the phone down, awkwardly pulling the top half of your body that was leaning over the edge back onto you bed. In an attempt to fall back asleep, you tossed and turned for what felt like hours. And still, no sleep.

After finally deciding to give up, your phone read 12:16. It wasn't much of an improvement, and you surely weren't about to continue suffering under stuffy covers.

Sitting up in your bed, you glanced at the window that led to the balcony. Maybe some fresh air would help. Even though you weren't exactly sure what the problem was, fresh air seemed like an appropriate solution.

As quietly as possible, you crept over to the giant window. You jumped slightly as the lock unlatched louder than you would have liked, panicking for a brief moment in hopes you didn't wake your brother who was only one room over from yours. After listening to make sure everyone was still asleep, you slowly opened the window and crawled outside.

The air had more of a chill to it now than it did earlier in the afternoon, but it was rather comforting. You were never one to like the heat, as tank tops and Nike shorts were your go-to's. When you mom first told you that you were moving further up north, you immediately thought of the colder weather and how you could finally wear a sweatshirt without feeling like you were suffocating.

After a few minutes, the chill started to become slightly uncomfortable, as it wasn't typical weather for a tank top and shorts. Just as you were about to turn back toward the window, you heard a voice.

It was really faint, but you were almost positive that it was the same one from before. That is, if you weren't imagining it the first time or now.

You turned back towards the city, ears scanning for the sound of the voice. The city wasn't as busy now, but there were still noisy cars on the road as well as the occasional person walking, most likely on their way home.

Even with the loud sounds coming from below, you were sure that this voice was located above you. Doing you best to block out the other noises, you could slowly hear the voice getting louder and more clear.

You turned back towards the window and caught the ladder to the roof in the corner of your eye. As you slowly took a step up each rung, you could understand more and more of what was being said.

"Everything's looking clear." A male's voice. Definitely a teenager, but older than the kids in your grade.

On the roof around midnight? Where did he come from? And what was he doing?

You took another step up the ladder.

"No sign of danger," he continued.

Danger? What kind of danger is he looking for?

Another step up the ladder.

"I'm about to head home. See you guys soon."

So he must live near, but who is he talking to this late at night?

Letting your curiosity get the better of you, you took a few more steps up the ladder until you head was barely poking over the top of the roof.

There he was. On the corner of the rooftop stood the owner of the mysterious voice. You gazed at his figure, your eyes taking in every inch of the silhouette glistening from the moon's glow. He was tall, a trait you lacked when it came to genetics. His eyes sparkled a deep blue even in the darkness of the night sky. His muscular build was one to die for, a show you normally didn't see from most of the boys at school.

This figure was perfect.

You kept your eyes locked on him, shooing away any rational questions appearing in you mind. As perfect as this figure looked, you couldn't shake something off about it. Of course other than the fact that there was a super hot teenager on your roof around midnight.

All suspicions were made true when the figure turned around for a second, revealing a giant shell that appeared to be stuck to his back in a way that seemed not costume-like.

It was a real shell, a turtle one, might you add (thanks to your zoology class last year). But with that, there could only be two explanations.

Either 1: It was all just a hallucination due to a lack of sleep.

Or 2: There was a giant, human-like turtle standing on the roof of your new apartment building.

No matter how hard you tried to convince yourself that that explanation 1 was true and made the most sense, you knew from the feeling in your gut that you were not hallucinating.

This made your stomach turn when you also realized you thought he was hot.