I feel curiously untethered
Something a little different.
Chapter 1
The breeze brings with it the scent of vetiver and cedar, a nod to the shifting seasons. I feel the quiet thrum of anticipation as the sun begins to set.
I call Cyrus on a whim, an impulse that feels less like my own decision and more like a suggestion from the wind.
He needs 45 minutes.
When I arrive, there’s one parking spot left, right out front, as if it’s waiting for me.
Inside, Cyrus and Paul welcome me with smooth jazz, the kind of music that seems to drift in from another time, or maybe another world.
I feel curiously untethered.
The smell of cookies wafts over from the kitchen, and Paul, ever quiet, mentions that they’ll be ready soon.
“Stay long enough, and you’ll have one fresh from the oven,” he says, his voice as steady as the house itself.
Cyrus, in his well-worn Levis and flannel shirt, leads me out back to the fire pit. As the flames catch, they smell of spiced rum and damp wood, curling into the air and mingling with the night.
And then, as if they’d always been there, the strange things begin to happen.