When Simon woke up that Saturday, he had no knowledge of the twisting, fateful day ahead of him.

He thought it would be a good day.

The sun was shining as it rarely did this far into October in Michigan. His mother didn’t need him to do anything, so he had no plans. He hoped, as always, that he might see Sarah. She’d moved to Nain Rouge just after he had, and they explored the town and the college campus together. They’d also been through some not-so-great times, but Simon preferred not to think about that.

Of course, she had no idea that he’d spent a great deal of time in a mental hospital. It’s just not the sort of thing you say to impress a woman.

The bad feeling started as an itch. By eleven, it’d worked itself into a frenzy. He went outside to shake it, but it grew. It reached full strength outside Mrs. B’s house. That’s when he saw Sarah. She walked towards him, and they met in the middle.

“Hi, Simon,â€? she smiled, and he got a good feeling, but decided to put that aside for right now.