The pond

She lay in bed hand on her forehead. She was so tired she had not even changed for bed. Her hand was hot. She had tied up her shirt to cool down. The air was on, and no it was not summer. It was fall she should have been dressed in a sweater and socks, not dressed down. She lay back on her pillow, and relaxed. Despite her body's warmth, she was not nervous.

She was awoken by her phone which lay beside her. She grabbed it. It said scam, so she hung it up. Her arms were covered with sweat. She thought about walking to the pond to cool off. When she went to stand up she almost fell. She was light-headed, and her breathing had grown raspy. She fumbled out to the pond. The cool air failed to awake her instead it gave her chills. Maybe a dip in the pond was not a good idea, but her head was clearing, and she no longer heard the quiet hiss when she breathed. She went to the bathroom and ran the warm water for a bath. The chills were gone. She washed off the sweat and replaced it with bath oil. But when she went to get up she felt light-headed again. It was a wave of confusion. She lay back down in the empty tub. The chills were returning, she needed to stand up and dry herself. Using the side of the tub, she stood up and breathing deeply, fumbled from the bathroom wrapped in a towel.

She figured there must be something in the air which she was reacting to, but she smelt nothing unusual. She slipped on a summer dress and plopped into her favorite chair. She wanted to sleep but her breathing was warning her no. She went to the kitchen and found that her gas stove was on. All four burners. She stopped in a stupper. That was impossible. She had not turned on the stove and had spent the past two days with her boyfriend. It was medically impossible. With that much gas, she would have been dead. She felt emotionally shaken. Someone since she had gotten home had turned on the burners. She went back to her bedroom. The air was hot, the cool air was no longer blowing. Someone had turned the heat up to it's hottest setting. She fixed it, but she did not feel safe. She opened the backdoor to let the cool air in. She had not heard a car, how could someone had turned everything on. She was afraid to lock the door, what if they were in the house. She called Dan. She told him what had happened. She climbed into her jeep and headed over to his apartment.

After work she returned to her house. The door was locked and the house seemed normal. She made her bed and turned on the tv. Just the usual political batt. le between the Democrats and republicans. Sick of the conflict, she flipped it off. She looked at the phone, It had been ringing all day. A lot of private calls. Only two messages both from a woman. "Heard you made it. Next time it will be worse." The person who was harassing her must be a woman, but how had she gotten into the house? And the biggest question was why. The next message answered that question. "Do you really think he loves you?" Someone other than her wanted to date Dan.

Dan had to know her. He must have led her on. Either as a friend or lover. The young lady must have misunderstood his intentions. He was out with friends tonight. She was feeling distrust. She wanted to show up at the bar, but she knew better. There is no way she could put on a happy face. She left a text. "We have to talk"

Dan came by. She knew he would. He looked like a hurt puppy. He thought he was in trouble. She wanted to kiss him, but she quickly giggled and said "we've got a problem. You have attracted a female admirer who is harassing me. She left two messages can you see if you know her?"

She waited nervously as he listened to the messages. She watched his face looking for a reaction, but all he did was say "I think we should call the police" They hugged. She felt herself relax. "I think I should stay." She smiled. "I think you should stay too."

She could never get enough of him. The next morning all she felt was peace. Peace in her body and peace in her mind. Work was the last thing on her mind, but after they went for breakfast he would give her a ride. She knew the routine.

He was dancing as he dressed. She laughed how had she met a man like this. Once dressed he said he'd meet her at the car. She hurried, but her preparation was interrupted by a loud thump. She rushed out to the cars.

Dan was standing there staring at the two cars. Both of them had two slashed front tires. The couple was silent. She was scared and he was angry.

The police were supportive and examined her house and both of the automobiles. She suggested that they set up cameras. She and Dan had both called in at work. Her co-workers thought she would be safer at work than at home, but she wanted to talk with the police.

They sat in the driveway hugging each other while the police worked, The police finally finished suggested that the couple spend the night at a hotel. The policemen were going to set a trap. They would have some undercover cops pretending to be them. Dan asked if they could have a ride since neither of them had a car.

The hotel deskman must have thought that these were the most depressed guests he had ever seen. Usually, they would have loved to be together in a hotel,

Dan lead them through the motions. They had eggs benedict and Mimosas. She began to smile. This was her favorite breakfast. He was her favorite company. The police had taken her phone, so she could not dwell on that. The gift shop had one one-piece bathing suit in her size, not her favorite style but she bought it.

They were the only two in the pool. Dan did laps. She went in the shallow section, After a half-hour of laps, Dan was his usual self again. She leaned up next to him, and he hugged her.

The night was eventless until about eight pm. Dan's phone rang. She felt her muscles tighten. The trap had worked. They had caught the young lady. She had seemed shocked and had lied about why she was there. But they had caught her slashing the back tires. Dan wanted to know who she was. The police said her id said Lisa Spenser, she was a bartender. They must have gone to their establishment as a couple,

Although they should have celebrated the young couple just curled up in their hotel room and went to sleep