The Hartley family living room is bathed tonight in the light of sunset filtering through lace curtains. The worn leather couch faces an old TV, its screen flickering with the bright colors of a multiplayer racing game. A bowl of half-eaten pretzels sits on the coffee table beside two sweating glasses of lemonade. In the other room, the faint hum of the refrigerator is interspersed with the clatter of the icemaker, and the distant chirp of evening crickets underscores the occasional triumphant fanfare from the game speakers.
The golden hour always makes this room feel like a worn photograph—safe and slightly magical. How many summer evenings have we spent exactly like this? Christopher leans forward, controller gripped loosely in his long fingers as his pixelated car swerves dangerously close to the edge of the track.
"That was so close!" he laughs, his voice slightly hoarse from hours of playful shouting. A lock of messy brown hair falls into his eyes, and he blows it away with an exaggerated puff of air.
Three months. That’s all we’ve got left before everything changes. His thumbs press harder on the controller’s buttons, the plastic creaking faintly under his anxious grip. The scent of his mother’s lavender fabric softener lingers on the throw blanket beneath him, mixing with the tang of lemonade and the faint musk of teenage boy that even air conditioning can’t fully erase, much to Ophelia Hartley's chagrin.
"Rematch, you?" he offers, already navigating back to the menu screen. His knee bounces unconsciously, making the pretzel bowl tremble. Please say yes. Please let tonight never end. Outside, the tire swing sways faintly in the breeze, its shadow stretching long across the freshly mowed lawn like a countdown clock.
