Dusk

Night

I run swiftly through the night. The cool breeze feels so good on my face. The shadows keep close to me as I duck under branches in the forest on the edge of the farm. Peter will never find me, or my arrowhead pendant that I hid on the roof of the sheep barn. But I still run because the night calls me, I run because I feel alive- I run because I am Night and I am Free.

I jog towards the old hay barn, seeking shelter so I can catch my breath. It's the perfect hiding place- an open space to keep watch for intruders, but also many nooks and crannies to hide in. Once I am inside, I walk over to the window and look outside, wondering if Peter or even Lily saw me. I don't know where either of them was, and hopefully it was the same vice versa. Peter, Lily, and I have been playing our game-dubbed "Secret Agent" by a sleep-deprived Lily-since we were thirteen. It has been the bread and butter to our friendship.

Every Friday night for the past five summers, we have met up at Peter's family farm to play our game. Secret Agent is essentially a combination of hide-and-seek and capture the flag. Two people, the secret agents, guard and protect a "treasure" while the other person, the villain, tries to steal it. The villain must sneak around and find the object. If the villain comes across one of the agents, they can engage in combat-light punches, kicks, nothing too intense. The first one to land eight hits wins, and the other person is considered "neutralized." The villain wins if they get the treasure. The secret agents win if they "neutralize" the villain.

My short rest is abruptly ended. I hear his footsteps a split-second before a hand covers my mouth and an arm restrains my hands.

"I think I win," Peter whispers in my ear. Then he releases his grip on me.

"You've forgotten something. Two things, actually," I whisper back.

"What?" Peter asks.

I grab his hand and flip him onto his back. He lets out a muffled grunt as he lands with a thud on the soft straw. "One, you forgot the object of which you have yet to obtain," I say as I circle around his head. "And two," I lean close to his face and grin. "I always win."

My boyfriend slowly gets up as I take a step away from him. But to my surprise, instead of leaving to go find the object, he puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out my arrowhead. A slow smile spreads across his face.

"Now, what were you saying, Faith?" he taunts me.

I grabbed my walkie-talkie from where it was attached to my jeans and radioed Lily. "Game's over- Peter found it. Meet us at your house. Over."

"Got it. Over," came the fuzzy response.

Peter let out a loud chuckle as I just glare at him and say, "Just you wait. Next round there will be no mercy!"

"Ooh, I'm so scared," he teases me.

I thump him in the chest as I walk past him and out of the building. I breathe in the night air at let it fill my whole body. I love nights like this; nights when the air is crisp and cold, but you feel so alive; nights when the only people in this big world are you and that special someone; nights when everything is perfect and right. Peter comes out to stand next to me. He runs his hands through his caramel-brown hair, dark in only the moonlight, and grins at me.

"You're not really mad at me, are you?" He asks.

"You know I'm not," I say.

"Good, good. Just checking," he says with a wink.

Before I can react, Peter pokes me in the ribs and dashes away in the direction of Lily's house.

"Hey!" I shout after him.