Because the Night

an occasion to smile

For the first time since graduating, Lily could see the next few months of her life materialize. She had been so excited to chart a path with Diego. So certain. This whole independence thing harder, though, and it was also more rewarding. It was a path that she forged on her own. 

After the Highland Detour, as her mother calls those three or so months in the mountains, Lily wept for two days. Then she pulled herself out of bed—actually, hoisted herself, is the word—made peanut butter toast, and started applying for jobs. 

She ended up getting a position at a local children's museum, combining her love for children and history. It might not be what she wanted to do forever, but it was a start. She planned to live with her mom for a while, and then get her own place. One step at a time.

Yes, she knew no apartment would be as beautiful as Highland, and no Tinder date would be as beautiful as Diego. But hopefully, no one would be as disappointing as that combination, either. She felt hopeful: An unusual feeling, but not an unwelcome one.

Lily spent her Christmas Eve wrapping a few presents for her mom and listening to Tex laughing in the TV room. They were on hour four of a Twilight Zone marathon. As happy as she was for her mom, Lily couldn't watch with them. She didn't want "envious" to be her primary personality trait, and that's what happened when she saw them together. 

She thought of what she almost had. The magic that she felt when she saw him the first time, and every time after that. A lifetime of that feeling—what a lifetime it would be. But this is a good feeling, too: Being satisfied with herself, and proud of her own achievements. Not needing a tribunal of grumpy and moody men to lend their approval. 

Even if Diego showed up and begged for her to come back, she couldn't say yes. When she met him, she was floating in the universe.  She had a more established life, now. She had to give herself a chance to make her own future, not latch onto his. 

Around 10 p.m., Lily curled up with a bowl of popcorn and a book, and read. Her phone was in the other room. She was fully in the moment.

And maybe that state, calm and defenses lowered, made her even easier to scare. There was a knock on the window. A face, illuminated by the light from the room. Lily screamed and toppled the popcorn all over the hardwood. Tex and Annabelle ran to help her, thinking she'd been attacked. 

"It's me!" the man in the window shouted. So this is how it ends. Home invasion. Plot twist, Lily thought, her heart thumping fast. Be brave be brave be brave, with every beat. 

"Who is that?" Tex said. "He sounds familiar."

"It's me, Lily. I was ringing the doorbell!" 

"The doorbell doesn't work!" Annabelle replied. 

"Why are you negotiating with a criminal?" Lily seethed. Her mom, always one to make a friend in a strange place. 

"Who says he's a criminal?" Annabelle said. "He looks familiar, doesn't he?" 

"I'm going to the door!" the face in the window said. 

Tex volunteered to answer. He put his eye through the peep hole. "My word," he said. 

"Is it the second coming? Why do you look like you're about to faint?" 

"Because I am," Tex said, holding onto the door. Then he opened. Lily screamed and held tighter onto the couch. What was he thinking? Letting the scary man into the window into her sanctuary? This was like an ouija board, minus the board!

Then Lily looked like she'd seen a ghost. But he was scarier than a ghost, who had no real power to affect things in the earthly realm, other than rattling chains and saying "boo." He was a man who could hurt her. Who had hurt her.