She Danced under the Stars ✔

3

My dad came home at quarter past eleven that night. We refrained from telling him about the incident.

The next morning, we decide to go to the water park. We settle in the indoor area, where a huge domed glass roof lets the sunlight stream in. My dad opens out his favorite newspaper and lays back in a deckchair.

Lily and I dive into the giant wave pool, splashing each other with a great deal of squawking. We fight with pool noodles among the waves then we ride the tube slides together, trying to sink one another in the plunge pool. But our enthusiasm declines after a few hours. The dark figure on the rooftop of the building comes back to haunt us. I slump against the steps at the edge of the pool. Lily does the same.

'Phew!' she sighs. 'Today's not the day for me to improve my butterfly stroke. I'm more of a stray cat than a mermaid!'

I smile. We still exchange a worried look. Lily seems hesitant.

'Hey . . . Would you feel up to another climb tonight? I'm not really sure myself . . .'

I frown, moving the undulating curves of my legs underwater. 'What if that guy was just a figment of our minds?'

'It can't be. We both saw him!'

'It was so strange . . . And those shivers I got . . .'

'I must admit that a thief with a cloak is something quite surprising to see these days. Unless the guy thinks he's Batman, it doesn't make much sense.'

I look up at her. 'So you've seen a cloak too?'

'Yeah, well, it might as well have been a long coat. From where we stood, it was not that easy to make out.'

I nod silently. The happy tumult of the bathers around me, the echoing cries of the children, the sprays of water in the sunlight; everything blurs into a distant, vaguely glistening scene with muffled sounds. A sort of excitement begins to creep over me, insidious, a bit disturbing. I already know that I won't be able to suppress it. I flirted once with fear and mystery, I will never be able to dismiss it from my mind. Maybe the first time is always the one too many.

With a glance over my shoulder, I make sure that my dad is still deep in his newspaper. I turn toward Lily again. 'If we go for another climb, we must take the pocketknife. It mustn't be a mere argument to get our permission.'

Lily nods. I stand up, streaming with water. 'I even learned how to block strikes at the Jujutsu lessons,' I add with a little smile. 'In case someone attacks us with a shard of glass.'

She smiles back. There's a cheeky glint in her eyes. We come out of the wave pool hand in hand.