Moonglow

The warm glow of the moon illuminated the path in front of me. I normally didn’t walk outside this late at night, but I was hoping a walk could help me clear my head. Thoughts spun through my brain faster than the Gravitron at the fair had spun me earlier. It had been a fun day of rides, too much cotton candy, and laughs with friends.

The heat and excitement of the day had faded into a warm, calm evening. With no beating sun or excited shouts, I had hoped the night would help calm me. But every tree I passed reminded me of the caramel apples Sarah had told me I just had to try. The chirping of crickets somehow reminded me of children’s laughter, which was the clearest sign thus far that my brain and my imagination were running wild.

The park near my apartment was empty at this time of night, so it was easy to find a bench to sit down on. I tried closing my eyes and taking slow, deep breaths. If the gentle moonlight wasn’t enough to settle the excitement from the day, perhaps a breathing exercise would help. Yet all I could see dancing in front of my closed eyelids was the colorful painted signs advertising all the different rides. Sighing in frustration, I opened my eyes.

I hadn’t expected to see an angel as soon as they opened. My breath caught in my throat as I stared at a man walking toward me. The lamplight behind him caught in his blonde hair, causing the light to reflect in an almost halo-like way. His steps were confident, and as he grew closer, I could see the moon reflecting in his deep blue eyes.

“Hello, is this seat taken?” How many young men had used similar lines on me in the past? But those questions had usually squeaked out timidly, when I was at the bar with friends. I’d never had a man so confidently ask me, as if certain I wouldn’t turn him away.

“No, it’s not,” I managed to utter, but it took me a second to scoot over on the bench and give the angelic stranger more room. He was smirking, lips turned up slightly, playfully. Could he tell how fast he had my heart beating? It felt like the puck in the High Striker game, only he’d only just picked up the hammer to strike and the puck was already flying up, unable to resist the strength in just his words.

“So, what’s a lovely lady like you doing in the park alone at night?”

I blushed and chuckled, pushing my hair back behind my ears, not because I didn’t like where it lay on my shoulders, but because I needed something to keep my hands occupied. “Oh, just went for a walk, that’s all. What about you? Are you alone as well?”

“Yes, I’m alone. But gentlemen don’t make everything about themselves when they have a beautiful woman who can lead the conversation.”

His lines were so cheesy. Why were they working? Maybe it was the way his hair, now lighted by the moon instead of the streetlights, glowed. Maybe it was his eyes. They looked so deep, so mysterious. Or perhaps his confidence? Whatever it was, I was falling for lines I normally laughed about with my friends when a man used it to try and flirt with one of us.

“Oh, I suppose gentlemen only learn information about the woman they’re talking to then?” I twirled my hair some more, not sure anymore if I was trying to keep my hands occupied, or if I was trying to flirt back.

“That, or I’d talk about what you want to discuss.” It suddenly shifted from generalizations to being personal, and I couldn’t ignore that his eyes were now staring right into mine. I could hear the bells going off at the High Striker. He’d managed to get my puck all the way to the top, just with that look.

“Oh, um, I’m not sure! Perhaps a gentleman, such as yourself, has some ideas for interesting conversation?” I met his gaze, determined to make sure he knew I was flirting back.

Two things happened then, at close to the same time. So close that I still am uncertain which came first. One lone cloud, the only cloud to grace the skies in over twenty-four hours, drifted in front of the moon, cutting off all the light. And two blue eyes lost their light, growing dark and predatory as they gazed through my eyes to my still ringing soul.

“I have a lot of ideas. Perhaps we could discuss some at your place, over tea or coffee?”

The light of the streetlamp was too far away. I missed the moonlight instantly. Without it, his smirk didn’t look playful. Or perhaps it did, but more in the way a cat toys with a mouse than the way friends banter with each other.

I backed away from him, shivering as the breeze that blew the cloud swept over us. “Oh, sure! Why don’t I just get your number and we can meet up sometime?” Now, all I wanted was to end the conversation and get back to my apartment. My heart was still leaping, but now it felt like my inner voice of reason was constantly hitting the High Striker to send the puck flying, to warn everyone around that we were in danger.

“Oh, darling, I thought we could go now. We’re both up, not doing much. Can’t I see your place?”

The breeze intensified. I was starting to regret my tank top. How had it grown so cold so fast?

“It’s getting late, though,” I managed to say as I stood up. He stood up too, so I took a step back. “I’m afraid I need to go to bed.”

“Why?” he pressed, though at least it was just with his words. He didn’t move closer, for now. “A young college girl like you shouldn’t have anything to worry about during the summer.”

The way he said that made him suddenly look angry. Had his eyes held so much fire before? Could moonlight help anger disguise itself as passion and romance? Either way, I knew I no longer felt safe. With his dark, angry gaze upon me, I reacted quickly, trying and hoping for a way out.

“Well, if I don’t get back soon, my roommate, Sarah, will start to worry. In fact, I should probably call her,” I insisted, pulling my phone out of my pocket with a trembling hand. Sarah was already fast asleep, in a sugar coma from all those caramel apples. It was hard to believe for a moment that it had only been a few minutes ago that I couldn’t get the fair out of my head. Now, I wished it was the only thing tumbling around in my brain again.

The stranger stepped back as soon as my phone came out, throwing up his hands as if it was a gun. “Oh, I didn’t realize you and your friend had things planned.”

I took another step back, feeling safer with more distance between us. “Sarah and I already agreed not to bring men back to the apartment without talking to each other first, too. So even if we didn’t have plans, I couldn’t bring you over! Sorry.” I wasn’t, but it felt safer to apologize.

He took another step back, nodding. “Welp, have a good night,” he muttered, before walking off towards the trees.

I started walking home myself, quickly. With the moonlight gone, the path that had seemed calm before now made the hair on the back of my neck stand straight. Shadows swayed and an owl hooted somewhere in the distance. Why did every shadow look like a hand trying to grab me, or a blurry shape about to tackle me?

It was only when the moon came back out that I found I was able to slow down again. My breath was shaky and my heart was pounding, but at least the shadows didn’t look like they were about to jump out at me anymore.

Could the light of the moon really change so much? For a moment, I wondered how the stranger would look now. Was it only the cloud that had made him seem so scary? He could’ve just been a young man looking for a night of fun. Or was it the moonlight hiding his true intent? He could be a clever kidnapper who’d just barely lost his chance. I didn’t know, I couldn’t know. But he was a stranger, and his intentions weren’t as important as my newest problem.

The thoughts of the fair were gone, but now I had to get the adrenaline and fear of shadows to disappear before I could sleep. And this time, I had to do it without a moonlight stroll.