~Night Owls~
A cool breeze ruffled the curtains in the bedroom. Downstairs, the clock was ticking...Hayden rolled over, sighing, and gave his pillow a thump.
He just couldn't seem to get comfortable, tonight. All around him the house was still, save a few routine noises.
The funny thing was, whenever he was shooting a film some where, attending an event or just resting in his hotel room, all he wanted was peace and quiet.And when he had it...it felt lonely.
"I must be crazy," he thought. "There's Kaylen in the next room."
Finally, he swung his long legs out of bed, tripping over a book he'd left there before he'd dozed off.
As he passed the open closet door, he saw his reflection in the mirror-the too-large 'Leafs T-shirt, tangled hair and brown cut off shorts.
For that matter, it was good to be back. Wouldn't the newspapers have a field day if he went traipsing outside his room like this somewhere else?
He smiled to himself, making a face.
Hungry. Okay.
Feeling like a little boy, he slipped downstairs and made his way into the kitchen. Mrs. Christensen was a wonderful cook.And there were leftovers in the fridge-fried chicken and some little chocolate pudding containers Kaylen brought home from school.
The chicken was great-even considering he'd dropped a piece on his way back-"oh, no," and the pudding tasted flat, but that was because of the low-fat tag on top.
Naturally.
By then he was wide awake.
Hayden pushed aside a pile of letters on his desk and leafed through a few scripts that had come while he'd been in Fiji.
None of them seemed especially stimulating, so he opened a letter. Pink envelope. Large red flowers. He nearly sneezed at the strong whiff of perfume that floated out.
He jumped up, got tangled in a trailing blanket and pushed open the window till he could gaze out over Toronto.
Lights winked and shimmered in the breeze, faint noises from the active nightlife below.
Hayden loved this part of the night, when he felt most at peace, free from his many admirers and the occasional fanactic....
Minutes later, pulling a casual sweatshirt on over his pajamas, he slipped a key in his pocket and went outdoors.
For a while, he just lie on the lawn. It was chilly, and the dew soaked into his clothes, but the wind had dried most of it. He looked up at the moon, with it's round cheerful face...some people couldn't see it, but Hayden always had. Even when he was little, when the face was tilted to the side or shadowed by darkness. The fact that it was actually craters on the surface only made it more interesting.
"Though I never believed in the cheese theory." Hayden spoke aloud.
He got up and moved closer to the few trees towards the front, out of the breeze.
A car drove by slowly, headlights reflecting wildly off the house before it came around the curve. He waited for it to go away, the noise and commotion he was trying to get away from. It stopped.He rose on one elbow, idly wondering...and hesitated. Photographers had been known to do plenty of crazy things, especially in Hollywood.
"This it?" someone said.
"I guess so. Ya."
"Well, what do you want me to do first?"
"Keep your voice down." The second voice was deeper. Hayden's initial irritation had given way to a slight unease. He slowly rolled to his left, behind the greenery, and strained forward, listening.
"I'll climb up to his window. There should be a trellis," the first voice was saying."It's for sure in the picture, right? The room with the trellis?"
A camera glinted in the moonlight.
Hayden relaxed a little. They weren't fanatics or kidnappers...but a picture of him like this was pretty bad."Christensen, Night Crawler," or, "Man of the Night" just didn't cut it. Most likely, "Dude asleep on his lawn in the middle of the night-Vader goes over the edge."
He almost laughed, imagining the stir it would cause in his fanbase.
'No, it was a girl...forbidden love.'....'no, alchohol, man, alchohol.."
One of the dogs started barking, from inside the house. Hayden listened as the front light came on, and the neighbor's dog came bounding around the corner.
A minute later, his father's voice called out,"Hey, what are you guys doing in my front lawn?"
"Uh-we came to get our dog. He took off. We're really sorry about that, sir."
Hayden was amazed at how quickly it quieted down. He got up, as soon as the coast was clear, and went to let himself in the back door. Except that, he'd lost his key.
"Son?"
Mr. Christensen was leaning out his window.
As Hayden made his way awkwardly back upstairs, he paused in the hall where his dad was eyeing him.
"Son, I hope that whole challenge thing didn't rub off some kind of living in the wilds fascination."
Hayden hesitated, raising an eyebrow. He tried to look serious. "No, I just had to go outside and see for myself."
"See--?"
"That there is a man on the moon. G'night."
The End
Index
Fan Fiction
