1249am Melanee Piskai She fumbled around with a journal full of scribbles, doodles, notes, and things that she didn’t find exciting or impressive in any way. This book was not her pride and joy, the mouth that she pours her inspiration into. It wasn’t full of still lives or ballads or figure drawings or, for that matter, any honey that dripped from her. Tonight, however, she was pretending it was. Balancing the tip of the pen cap between her teeth, she tapped her book steadily with her pen and slid note cards that were falling out at the sides back between pages. It was the fourth spot she had relocated to since her night stroll started. The first was a bench beside a road, and, although it was well past midnight, on a weekday, no less, the air was full of sounds and movement. She felt she could only blink and shift her weight, and she did. The second was the edge of a wall hanging above the river. She had probably liked this spot the most, however her mind had been wandering and her body remained graceless. She had been sitting with her legs pulled against her chest to let the swans glide by undisturbed, and her body was wavering on the edge with her thoughts. The third spot was also a bench. However, it was wet with the remnants of rain. She sat there a half second too long to be comfortable and was still such by the time she found the fourth spot: a bench at the bottom of an old stone stairway. There were hedges and flowers surrounding her and the public herb garden to her side. She had picked the bench mostly because it was well lit and empty, but as she sat down and looked up, the view tugged up at the corners of her mouth. The lights lining the river glistened in the cool darkness. She could watch people cross the old bridge—a place she adored—but more importantly, she could watch the stone figures that danced across its sides. Following the path across the river, her eyes slid up to the castle that watched over the town below. Without moving her head, she leaned back and crossed her legs beneath her. As she refocused her wide eyes, she flicked
185!!