Stay out and sunbathe alone for a bit
From Create Your Own Story
The absence of the others doesn't trouble you much—you're content to lounge back against the sun-warmed lounger. A sigh escapes as you sink deeper into relaxation, the scent of crushed clover and warm earth filling your nose. Just as the edges of sleep begin to blur your thoughts, a sharp *rustle* cuts through the stillness—dry leaves whispering against each other from the overgrown hydrangea bushes at the garden's far left border.
Your eyes snap open, scanning the shifting shadows between the foliage. Nothing. You settle back, dismissing it as the wind... until it happens again. Louder now. Deliberate.
You bolt upright, pulse quickening. The bushes tremble—not from any breeze, but from something moving *within* them. A twig snaps. And the bushes tremble again.
