Let Me Stay The Night

Night had fallen by the time Vito returned from the village chief’s house.

Standing at the door, Miriam pulled him into the woods outside the courtyard.

“How did it go at the village chief’s house?” she asked after making sure Christina wouldn’t be able to hear them.

Vito recounted everything truthfully. The village chief’s roof was severely damaged, but with everyone’s help, all the broken pieces had been cleared out. What remained was for the village chief to patch his roof with some new tiles.

Yet, Miriam didn’t care about that. Thinking about how Christina had asked about the village chief’s phone today, she fell silent for a moment before asking. “What happened to his phone?”

“It’s broken,” Vito answered.

A smile formed on Miriam’s face. Everything was going exactly as she had planned. “Let’s go. It’s time for dinner.”

While seated, Christina noticed the two return together.

“Vito,” she called out to him softly.

Hearing the woman call his name, Vito scratched the back of his head awkwardly, not knowing where to look.

Having interacted with him for the past few days, Christina was no longer surprised by his demeanor. Miriam, on the other hand, gave him a light slap on the head in frustration.

Then, Vito swiftly began scooping out the food from the pot.

“You must be starving.” Miriam served Christina’s portion of food on a plate.

The latter smiled and shook her head. “Not at all. I haven’t done a lot today, so I didn’t use much en she replied while pushing the plate toward Vito instead.

“You must be hungry, Vito. You were busy helping out at the village chief’s place all day.”

note of Christina’s kind

them sat at the round table and ate harmoniously

out for a walk,” said Christina after dinner. “Could you come with me,

at Christina’s leg out of concern. “Is your

about her, but there were some things she had to discuss with him in private. “It’ll be fine. We won’t be so far out.” Miriam would grow suspicious if they were to wander off too much. Miriam just so happened to hear Christina’s response and agreed that the two needed to spend some time alone. “Take Christina out

his mother prompting him, too, Vito could only accompany

cane. Meanwhile, Vito stayed by her side, ready to help her at any time.

said nothing to each other and arrived at a slope before realizing it.

sea and sky

boulder and sat on it. Then, seeing Vito remain standing, she invited him over. “Don’t just stand there, Vito. Have a seat too!”

written in his eyes, Vito pursed his

a girl alone. He simply didn’t know what

not to pressure him. “It’s so pretty out here. I’ve never seen a night sky as lovely as this,” she exclaimed, gazing out into the distance.

few exchanges, the atmosphere between them eased slowly, and Vito was no

I don’t even know how my family is doing

me a few days to fix the

concluded that Miriam and Vito

she didn’t want to wait

boat we can take?” Christina glanced up at

there weren’t many motorboats on the island; most boats here could only be

could get home using the

his father, and the young man was usually in charge of selling the fish they caught with it.

was why Christina remained stuck on this island for so

know what to say. He bit his lower lip and kept mum as he remembered his mother’s