belly-pack. He added a can of Pepsi from the refrigerator. Realizing its condensation would make everything else wet, he took it out, put it inside a plastic bag, then returned it to his pack.
In the kitchen ‘junk drawer, he found a couple of fair-sized pink candles. He put them, along with a handful of match books, into his pack. After fitting his Walkman headphones into the pack, there was no room left for the Walkman itself.
I don’t need it anyway.
He put on his windbreaker, then glanced at the digital clock on the oven.
8:06.
Perfect.
Patting the pockets of his jeans, he felt his wallet, comb, handkerchief and keys.
That should do it.
He looked around, wondering if he was forgetting anything.
Yeah, my brains.
He grinned.
Chapter Four
Outside the house, he took a deep breath and filled himself with the cool, moist scent of the foggy morning.
A wonderful morning, made for adventure.
He trotted down the porch stairs and headed for Front Street.
In the early stages of making plans, he’d considered trying to sneak out of the neighbourhood to avoid being spotted by friends of his parents. Friends who would blab. After a while, however, he’d realized there was no point. He might be able to sneak into Beast House and keep his rendezvous with Alison, but his parents were certain to discover his absence from home tonight. Thus, the note.
And thus, no need for sneakiness. Not here and now, anyway.
They’re gonna kill me, he thought.
But not till after my night with Alison.
And if something goes wrong and I can’t make it into Beast House, I’ll just come home and destroy the note and nobody’ll ever know what I almost did.
That might not be so bad, he thought.
It’d be awful! I’ve got to get into the house and be there at midnight.
Walking along, he thought about how surprised Alison would be when he opened the back door for her.
‘My God!’ she would say, ‘you really did it !’
And then she would throw her arms around him, hug him with amazement and delight.
Would that be a good time to kiss her? he wondered.
Probably not. You don’t go around kissing a girl at the start of a date. Especially if you’ve never gone out with her before. You’ve got to lead up to it, wait until the mood is just right.
We’ll have hours together. Plenty of time for one thing to lead to another.
At Front Street, Mark stopped and looked both ways. Only a few cars were in sight, none near enough to worry bout. He hurried to the other side and continued walking east for another block. The barber shop was already open, but he didn’t glance in. The candle shop hadn’t opened yet. Neither had Christiansen Real Estate or the Book Nook or most of the other businesses along both sides of the road. Generally, not much was open in Malcasa Point before 10:00 a.m., probably because that was when the first tour buses arrived for Beast House.
Coming to the corner, he turned right. Though bordered by businesses, the road was empty and quiet. He followed its sidewalk southway. Because of curves and low slopes, he couldn’t see where it stopped. The DEAD END sign and the fence and rear grounds of Beast House wouldn’t come into view for another couple minutes.
Almost there.
Then the fun starts, he thought.
But the fun started early.
Two blocks ahead of Mark, a police car came around a bend in the road.
Oh, shit!
Just act normal!
Trying not to change his pace or the look on his face, he turned his head slightly to the right as if mildly interested in a window display.
Mannequins in skimpy lingerie.
Terrific, he thought. The cop’ll think I’m a pervert.
Looking forward, he started to bob his head slightly as if he had a tune going through it.
Just a normal guy out for a walk.
He glanced toward the other side of the road.
In his peripheral vision, he saw the patrol car coming closer.
He turned his gaze to the sidewalk directly in front of him.
The cop’ll get suspicious if I avoid his
In the kitchen ‘junk drawer, he found a couple of fair-sized pink candles. He put them, along with a handful of match books, into his pack. After fitting his Walkman headphones into the pack, there was no room left for the Walkman itself.
I don’t need it anyway.
He put on his windbreaker, then glanced at the digital clock on the oven.
8:06.
Perfect.
Patting the pockets of his jeans, he felt his wallet, comb, handkerchief and keys.
That should do it.
He looked around, wondering if he was forgetting anything.
Yeah, my brains.
He grinned.
Chapter Four
Outside the house, he took a deep breath and filled himself with the cool, moist scent of the foggy morning.
A wonderful morning, made for adventure.
He trotted down the porch stairs and headed for Front Street.
In the early stages of making plans, he’d considered trying to sneak out of the neighbourhood to avoid being spotted by friends of his parents. Friends who would blab. After a while, however, he’d realized there was no point. He might be able to sneak into Beast House and keep his rendezvous with Alison, but his parents were certain to discover his absence from home tonight. Thus, the note.
And thus, no need for sneakiness. Not here and now, anyway.
They’re gonna kill me, he thought.
But not till after my night with Alison.
And if something goes wrong and I can’t make it into Beast House, I’ll just come home and destroy the note and nobody’ll ever know what I almost did.
That might not be so bad, he thought.
It’d be awful! I’ve got to get into the house and be there at midnight.
Walking along, he thought about how surprised Alison would be when he opened the back door for her.
‘My God!’ she would say, ‘you really did it !’
And then she would throw her arms around him, hug him with amazement and delight.
Would that be a good time to kiss her? he wondered.
Probably not. You don’t go around kissing a girl at the start of a date. Especially if you’ve never gone out with her before. You’ve got to lead up to it, wait until the mood is just right.
We’ll have hours together. Plenty of time for one thing to lead to another.
At Front Street, Mark stopped and looked both ways. Only a few cars were in sight, none near enough to worry bout. He hurried to the other side and continued walking east for another block. The barber shop was already open, but he didn’t glance in. The candle shop hadn’t opened yet. Neither had Christiansen Real Estate or the Book Nook or most of the other businesses along both sides of the road. Generally, not much was open in Malcasa Point before 10:00 a.m., probably because that was when the first tour buses arrived for Beast House.
Coming to the corner, he turned right. Though bordered by businesses, the road was empty and quiet. He followed its sidewalk southway. Because of curves and low slopes, he couldn’t see where it stopped. The DEAD END sign and the fence and rear grounds of Beast House wouldn’t come into view for another couple minutes.
Almost there.
Then the fun starts, he thought.
But the fun started early.
Two blocks ahead of Mark, a police car came around a bend in the road.
Oh, shit!
Just act normal!
Trying not to change his pace or the look on his face, he turned his head slightly to the right as if mildly interested in a window display.
Mannequins in skimpy lingerie.
Terrific, he thought. The cop’ll think I’m a pervert.
Looking forward, he started to bob his head slightly as if he had a tune going through it.
Just a normal guy out for a walk.
He glanced toward the other side of the road.
In his peripheral vision, he saw the patrol car coming closer.
He turned his gaze to the sidewalk directly in front of him.
The cop’ll get suspicious if I avoid his
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