I couldn't see it, but something was there, just beyond the light...

The BF and I finally had one full day together for the first time in months, and wanted to make it worthwhile. So we drove over the mountains with the trees changing color, to the quaint little village tucked away in there.

We spent the day shopping and eating and feeling like one day was not nearly enough, until all the stores closed and the sun went down. Then we got in the car and drove around. The streetlamps glowed soft, round and golden, and the shops lined the streets like a Norman Rockwell painting. We were the only people in the world, and the air itself seemed to breathe romance, as we slowly drove nowhere.

I was not used to days filled from top to bottom with activity, and I felt myself getting weary as The BF climbed the car into the mountains. Shops gave way to extravagant houses, some abandoned, some occupied, but most were for sale. As we climbed higher, the road broke up and faded to dirt, and the houses became less extravagant and more like run down, abandoned shacks. A shack. . .weeds. . .darkness. . .shadows. . .another shack. The car crept slowly up the winding, dirt, mountain road, everything was darkness and shadow, except where the headlights shined.

I was reminded of the scary stories my grandma would tell. The stories always began with several teenagers camping in the mountains, then they found an abandoned shack, they would get seperated, their flashlights stopped working, and there would be something terrifying they couldn't see, hunting them. I tensed myself for the moment something would throw itself against my window. The doors were locked, but we were driving so slow.

"Let's get out of here," I said. The BF drove until he found a place to turn around. Then we had to drive slowly back down the creepy, winding, mountain road, through the Norman Rockwell village, which now seemed like a facade, hiding something sinister, and along the pitch black road until we reached the highway, where I let out the breath I had been holding.

It had been a long day. I turned over in my seat and fell asleep.