The Midnight Stroll 

“Olivia, lights out, you need some sleep,” my mom calls from down the hall, just before entering her room to go to sleep. 

It’s around 9:00 and I am nowhere near tired. I sit at my bay window reading one of my favorite books, looking up every now and then to look at the full moon in the sky. My windows cracked a little so I can hear the sounds of the night. Owls and crickets break the night's calm as leaves blow around the grass in my front yard. It’s a clear night, not a cloud in sight. The breeze flows in through the crack in my window sending in a chill. I take a deep breath breathing in the night air and curling into myself for warmth. 

Hours later I’m still seated at the window reading. It’s around midnight. The witching hour. Well I guess the witching hour is at 3am now, so not the witching hour. 

I get up and stretch. I should go for a walk. 

Midnight walks are my favorit.

I walk down the deserted street hugging my sweatshirt tight around my body. Most girls say walking at night is dangerous but I don’t see the problem. I’m not really going to get jumped in the middle of the night. 

    I keep walking till I get to the park in the neighborhood. The park is relatively large. There's a walking trail all around it and into the woods plus a small playground. Street lights illuminate the playground… and a figure sitting on the swing set. I decide to walk over and sit on the swing next to him. He looks up as I sit down and watches me.

    “What are you doing here?” I ask, swaying back and forth on the swing a little. 

    “I could ask you the same thing,” the guy says looking down at the ground.

    “Why wouldn’t you go out on a midnight stroll?”

    “For one, it’s not safe for a girl.”

    “Says who? That stuff is only in movies.”

    “Whatever, you still shouldn’t be out here.”

I smile to myself and look over to him. He has a hoodie on as well and a pair of dark pants. His hair looks a little blonde in the light the street lamp creates. He pushes around wood chips with his foot as he swings back and forth. 

    “Why are you here?” I ask again.

    He looked up at me, “couldn’t sleep. What about you?”

    “Same thing.”

    We sat in silence for a few minutes. 

    “Is that really your only reason?” he asks.

    I shake my head, “no. But is that really yours?”

    “Fair enough,” he laughs a little.

    I get up and go over to the playground climbing up until I’m in the little house part of the play set. The guy looks up at me and follows. I sit on the floor of the play set, leaning against the side.

“What should I call you?” I ask as he climbs into the little house.

“Whatever you want to, but my name is Alex,” he answers as he sits in front of me, “what should I call you?”

“Whatever you want, but my name is Olivia,” I repeated what he said to me with a smile. 

    He smiles. His features are soft with a hard edge. Soft lips and nose with long eyelashes. But a hard and firm jaw and sharp eyebrows. 

    We talked for a few hours going back and forth. Listening, then talking. Smiling, then laughing. 

We sit beside each other now watching the sunrise from the roof of the play set. As the sky gets brighter and brighter I remember life. I still have life to get back to. It’s easy to forget about it for a while at night. You can think of anything you want, forgetting life between the silence while everyone else sleeps.

    “Do you think we will talk again?” I ask.

    “I hope we will.”

    I get up and climb down from the playground's roof.

    Alex stands up on the roof, “same time tomorrow?” 

    I smile, “maybe,” I respond walking away.

Maybe I will meet this boy again tomorrow. Maybe we will talk till morning again. Maybe I might even fall asleep next to this boy as we talk. And maybe, just maybe, I will fall in love with this boy.