I’ve been playing around with titles, trying to create a spark that would lead to a story. This one was the title of an old detective novel. It led to a story that fits this time of the year. If there’s a Halloween Contest, consider this my entry.
Marianne.

I was walking along a street I knew well, when something felt odd. I couldn’t put my finger on it, so I just carried on. A few paces on, the feeling went away, and I continued on to my workplace. I immersed myself in my business and forgot all about the feeling.

Chapter 40 – Carter

As the days slipped by, the school settled into a tranquil rhythm, the initial thrill of the new dragons gradually fading into the backdrop of everyday life. Yuqi observed with an attentive eye that the once-grand entrances of the other dragons no longer drew gasps of awe; their powers, once flaunted like banners, were now wielded with a quieter grace. Even Sebastian, still reeling from his public embarrassment in the bustling cafeteria, had chosen a path of solitude, keeping his distance with an air of reluctance.

Chapter 9: Justice

Linus took a deep, ragged breath, his voluminous chest rising and falling, and pulled through the gate. He followed the drive to the spacious brick-paved area beside the entrance to the enormous house. Conrad’s gleaming new Porsche was there along with a massive pickup truck also sporting the decorative orange license tag with the big white paw in the middle. Seeing the truck, a flash of horror ran through his mind, seemingly from nowhere. Anna’s heart pounded in his chest, and Linus felt light-headed as he put the car in park, hands shaking.

At seventy-nine, Edward Wright wants nothing more than quiet days by the sea—peace from his restless mind and from the values he never truly chose but was forced to live by. When he buys a Cape Cod beach house, he expects solitude. Instead, he discovers something left behind sixty-two years ago…something that will change the course of his final years in ways he never imagined.

Author’s note: I missed the deadline for the summer romance contest, but the idea would not let me go. I love the challenge of writing to a random theme, and this story became the result. While I draw on real places and the names of historical figures, this novel is entirely a work of fiction. I hope you enjoy it as much as I loved writing it.