Can I Get a Hug?

Ray?

No. It couldn’t be him. He wasn’t even supposed to be around.

But I couldn’t shake it off. The way the figure stood. That posture. It felt too familiar. Too him.

I took a step forward. But the figure turned and as if in a flash disappeared into the darkness.

Gone.

I stood there, frozen, my heart pounding.

Maybe I was imagining things. Maybe the day had finally pushed me over the edge.

But as I turned to go back inside, that feeling came over me again.

It was like I was being watched.

A gaze I knew. A presence I couldn’t shake off.

I looked around again, but no one was there.

Still, I felt it.

And I knew…

Someone was out there.

I just stood there staring into the darkness where the figure had vanished.

Even when I finally turned around and walked back inside, that feeling still didn’t leave me.

That gaze clung to me like a second skin.