It’s an oppressively hot day. Dave would say he can’t remember the last time it was this hot, but he can easily remember the last day that it was this hot: yesterday. They’ve been having a honest-to-god heat wave as of late, and as much as he likes warm days, this is just straight up goddamn ridiculous. He feels like he’s sweat gallons, and he’s taken to using one of the decorative fans he got from a friend to cool himself, since there’s no natural breeze. Drinking lots of water helps, but he’s gotta chill it with a spell. Sometimes he chills a few bottles of water and places them in places where it sucks worst. 

In short, heat waves suck. -10/10, would never recommend. Ever.

After a couple hours lying in his bed on sweaty gross sheets, Dave comes to the conclusion that he needs to get out and do something. Anything. He puts on a sunhat, a loose white dress(hey, it’s better than the gross tightness of jeans or anything else), and sandals, and heads out on his bike. The feeling of the air rushing past as he pedals along the broken roads is heavenly, and he silently thanks himself for the foresight of taking his shades with him; the sun is blinding-bright. There’s not a single cloud in the sky, and as he speeds along, he finds himself actually starting to enjoy the day.

The roads get even more uneven as he exits town, heading(unconsciously) towards the oceanside. Maybe he’ll go for a swim, he thinks, as he draws ever closer to the ocean, sparkling and nearly as bright as the sky- just a different shade of blue. When he reaches a set of cliffs near the next town over from his own, due northeast, he skids to a halt, looking over the ocean. Here, there’s a breeze, and he has to hold on to his hat as he looks out, the wind tugging at his dress. After a moment of squinting, Dave gets off, setting his bike down nearby, and sits on a large rock at the edge of the cliff.

Do you ever get the feeling you are being watched at random times?  Such as walking through the early blooming spring field or just casually jogging through the forest? Lately, Jake has that feeling whenever he sets his feet from out of his house, going the general direction of his favourite destination to relax - the forest.  The feeling of uneasiness settles in as soon as he enters the kingdom of the tall trees, balling his hands into his fists as he looks around with extra caution. Should he run? Should he act casual? Is this even real? If not, brain, what are you trying to accomplish here? And so he doesn’t run. He just walks a tad bit faster, stepping over roots and sticks, his head still turning from side to side in case something decides to pounce on him. By the time he reaches the next sinkhole, he is fairly certain someone is following him. He can hear them stepping on sticks and sneaking through the bushes. It cannot be himself, he would have noticed it before.

This wasn’t the first time Jade had magically enlarged a frog, and she highly doubted it would be the last time.

There was something about their eyes that were searching, soulful, when she brought them close to her own face. Making them larger just seemed like the logical next step in truly understanding the frog’s faces and little minds. She would never pretend that frogs weren’t pretty stupid, but Goddamn it, they were pretty. Their cerulean spots on army green skin, the bumps and ridges down their back, the delicate fingers… Jade Harley was an unabashed frog lover. Of course, her frog enlargement attempts had failed the first few times. She’d dug a few froggy graves. Said a few froggy prayers. But now, almost two years since her first attempt, she was lying on her belly on a rock beside a small creek, staring deeply into the now baseball-sized eyes of a bull frog. One could expect her to lean in for a kiss at any moment.

Jade hadn’t interacted with a human being in over a year. Even then, it was a brief encounter, just someone passing through the area. Her little cabin was well away from anything that once was civilization, and she felt little need to leave it. Where would she go? She didn’t know anyone out there. She knew there were dark, dark things out there in the rest of the world, past the boundaries of the creek bordering her property. Since her grandfather died, she had lived alone, living off fruits and vegetables from her garden. Grandpa had often warned her not to travel far from the cabin. He told her horrific stories of the apocalypse, bodies in the streets, towering trees, biblical rainstorms. She heard about it frequently. Turns out, the apocalypse was a big deal for those involved. Grandpa was this mighty old sorcerer, hunting down animals and briefly reanimating their corpses to scare Jade. She wasn’t even sure how old he was; he looked like time itself. When grandpa talked about the end of days, his hands shook a little, frightening Jade. When he died, she deeply considered his advice, and decided that maybe he had been right about the world. Maybe she should stay inside.

Or maybe she would continue gazing at this beautiful frog. She’d been feeling antsy lately, ready to go down the creek to find bigger, better frogs. Well, at least better frogs that she could make bigger. Metaphors aside, Jade was itching to leave her little cabin, even if just for a day. She was waiting for someone to get lost in the woods and find her there. She was dying to get out- she was eighteen, dammit, and she would have her life! Slowly, the frog shrank back down to normal size, and hopped off the rock as her focus was averted to a large, person-shaped shadow looking over the creek.

Dave really likes the ocean. Loves it, actually. He loves swimming, and always has, ever since Bro taught him how, and since he can usually just walk or bike to the beaches a couple towns over from his home, he swims a lot. It’s especially nice on days like this, where the water is warmer than usual and the air is cool enough that it’s not sweltering, but not cold enough that he’s shivering when he steps out of the water. The crying of the gulls is faint as they circle over the water a good distance away, and the sun shines down on the waves, making the water glitter and sparkle.

Yeah. This is going to be a good day, he can tell.

Truthfully, though, he’s in the water at a specific beach: the beach with the dock where he met Meenah. He’s keeping to the water close to shore, scanning the sands every few minutes(or seconds) in hope of seeing her. He really liked talking to her and hanging out with her, and wants to get together again, but he isn’t sure how to contact her to ask, so he’s stuck floating back and forth, back and forth, across the beach, looking for her.

It feels weird, though. 

Maybe he’d like anyone’s company? He wouldn’t mind meeting new people.... and he wouldn’t mind seeing who else comes to this beach besides Meenah and himself. Maybe he’ll meet someone else cool.

It’s always nice to spend time outside in his little treehouse when it’s sunny. Just dappled sunlight and warm wood against his skin, the rustle of paper as he writes down ideas for spells and doodles dumb stuff in the margins of the paper, the chirping of birds and the rustle of leaves. It’s peaceful, and Dave could spend hours here, laying on his back and just listening, or making spells and poetry. 

He’s never invited anyone up here, though. Often he’s wondered if he should, and surely some people have come across it when he’s not there, but he’s never seen any traces of people being up here, and nobody has ever ventured across him while he’s there, either. It’s pretty far away from most towns, though, so maybe nobody’s hiked far enough to get here yet? Honestly, he isn't sure. There’s probably some sort of detection spell that could tell him, but if there is, he hasn't learned it. 

On the subject of inviting people up here, though, he’s not sure of, either. It’s a very private place for him- some would describe it as his happy place, and he’s extremely reluctant to share it with anyone, let alone people he just met recently, like Meenah. Maybe sometime he’ll invite her, but that’s a ways off, probably.