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.”

of Christina’s kind gesture, feeling more

of them sat at the round

Christina after

but he glanced at Christina’s leg out of concern.

wander off too much. Miriam just so happened to hear Christina’s response and agreed that the

Vito could only accompany Christina on

cane.

two said nothing to each other and

vast sea and sky full of stars from there.

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

Vito pursed his lips. “I-It’s fine.”

talking to a girl alone. He

Christina decided not to pressure him. “It’s so pretty out here. I’ve never seen a night sky as lovely as

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

I don’t even know how my family

her pained expression made Vito feel upset too. “Give me a few days to fix the boat, and I’ll take you back.”

that, Christina concluded that Miriam and Vito weren’t lying about the boat being

to wait any longer.

boat we can

on the island; most boats

was no way she could get home

boat had been left behind by his father, and the young man was usually in charge

the boat had malfunctioned, and that was why Christina remained stuck on this island

woman’s dazzling eyes, Vito didn’t know what to say. He bit his lower lip and