When the sun was just beginning to rise, I woke up to the rhythmic tapping of raindrops on my window. The sound reminded me of serenity, a lullaby-like melody, and a natural serenade. My centre felt at peace as soon as my eyes were at rest, allowing me to enjoy these precious moments of isolation. As a young boy on summer holiday, I paddled while drifting aimlessly on clear waters, at ease with the flexibility of time. I soon found myself back in the present, where the rain's music had merged with the pleasant high notes provided by the birds. In my imagination, I am humming with them on the rooftops, breathing in clean air, and observing the landscape emerge into focus.

It took me a moment to realise that Sam's warm body was glued to the side of me. Her soft hair tickled me ever so slightly as she rubbed the side of her face against my chest. I yawned as I pushed myself up into a sitting position. It seemed as if she was quite a heavy sleeper and continued to roll onto her other side.

Waking up and peering over the clear lake will be something I'll never get used to. The lake is the most perfect reflection; it never reflects precisely what is above but instead creates a picture that is exquisitely blurred and damaged. The flowing tree and the sky's clouds transform into Monet's, all of which are available for viewing. It is temporary and changes every day, but that just makes it more valuable.

The boiling kettle let out its steam as I grabbed the two mugs from last night closer; filling them with ground coffee beans. As the water touched the coffee grounds, the aroma soon drifted through the small cottage with the help of a slight breeze coming through the window. Soon a small raven appeared on the windowsill tilting its head from side to side showing deep interest as I stirred the coffee. The raven seemed to know this place; it wasn't scared or shy. The corner of my lip twitched as I reached for the bag of rusks and slowly took one out. "That's all you get from us, buddy," I smiled as the raven took the rusk out of my hand and flew away.

I walked back to the room to see Sam already up searching vigorously through her bag. "Fuck, where is it?" she mumbled to herself as she continued searching.

"Lost something?" I asked as I placed the two coffee mugs on the bedside table.

She shrieked as her body tensed up. "Uh, morning," she hesitatingly said as she looked up at me.

She seemed quite distraught as if she has lost something important. "You look uneasy, what's up?" I asked as I knelt down beside her.

She glanced over to her bag and looked up to the roof. "I don't know where my mom's journal is," she sighed annoyingly as she continued rummaging through her bag. "I keep it with me all the time," she added.

"Maybe you just left it at home?" I mentioned as I stood back up again.

"I don't leave without it," she sternly said as she threw her whole bag out onto the floor.

I've never been a sentimental person and I couldn't quite comprehend how she was feeling at that moment. To me, it was just a journal, nothing more. "It's obviously not in there, just relax and drink your coffee," I snapped as I rolled my eyes.

She stayed quiet and let out an annoyed huff. Without looking over at me, she grabbed her coffee and walked toward the kitchen. I followed her sheepishly into the kitchen and almost cracked a smile when I saw her grabbing the milk carton from the fridge. "For your information, I'm not a psychopath like you," she blurted out as she poured the milk into her coffee mug.

We walked out to the balcony overlooking the calm waters as we took a seat on two wooden lounge chairs. "We should go canoeing," she unexpectedly said as she stretched out her legs on the lounge chair.

I honestly have no idea how to swim...

"Uhm," I stuttered as I tried to think of something to say. "Maybe we should first go on a walk or something," I added quickly. "You know, go down the trails."

She glanced over to me for a second and then let out, "I suppose. The weather does say that it'll get a bit more chilly."

During our morning routine, it was quite strange seeing Sam looking over at me with a smirk as I moisturise my face. It looked like she wanted to burst out of laughter, but forced herself to keep a smirked smile. "What is it?" I snapped as I packed away my toiletries.

"It's not very common seeing a guy have a more intricate bathroom routine than a girl," she said with a smug as she splashed some water on her face.

I held my mouth and returned to the bedroom where I dressed in some athletic clothes. She stayed in the bathroom as she got ready, keeping our privacy to ourselves.

I observed a small aluminium sign that read "Cresent Moon" as we began our hike.  In contrast to Bristol, the area has a vast, level valley bottom with a river channel crisscrossing it. Due to the length of the route, when we get to the other end, the air is completely free of any highway odours. In the distance, Sam saw a slightly broken-down lookout point. Without hesitation, she jogged up to it and started to climb recklessly the stairs attached to the lookout point. "Don't hurt yourself!" I yelled as I stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh relax!" she laughed as she childishly climbed higher and higher until she reached the top of the lookout point. "You need to check out this view, Wolf!" she called.

I thought about it for a moment. I wouldn't usually consider climbing a death trap, but this seemed quite intriguing. As I reached the top, the view didn't catch my attention, but Sam did. She was sitting quite casually on the old fence, dangling her feet down almost making my heart jump out of my chest. "Get down from there," I shrieked as I grabbed her waist from behind and gently pulled her down.

As her feet touched the ground, she turned to me with her hands behind her back, my arms still holding her waist tightly. We gazed into each other's eyes, with the feeling of everything around us fading away.

Though her lips were lovely, it was the sensation of them that elicited a sensuous high in my imagination. That's why, before the need to kiss her took over, I reached for her face and delicately touched her bottom lip with my thumb. Rain droplets fell lightly, creating specks of gems upon her face while her eyes spoke a thousand words, but none that I could decipher. I have never felt this loving sensation towards anyone in my life. I've never felt nervous around anyone, but her presence sent my heart in a fast pacing beat and I quickly let go of her lip. Her eyes were drawing me closer to that beautiful soul of hers. She took my hand ever so gently, rubbing her thumb softly over my knuckles while looking deep into my eyes. Her hand trailed from my arm to my chest where she rested her hand on my beating heart. Subconsciously, I trailed my hand on her back, drawing her closer to me. She moved slightly closer, pushing up onto the ball of her feet, raising her chin up slowly with her beautiful quiet lips inches away from mine. My face warmed up and I could feel the red splotches that would break when I feel anxious growing on my face. My eyes were wide open, taking in her beauty as she waited for me to passionately kiss her.

She slightly opened her eyes and lowered onto her feet again. She stared into my icy blue eyes and gently touched my cheek, moving her thumb over a red splotch. "Why haven't you kissed anyone before?" she asked, not skipping a beat.

How did she know I have never kissed anyone?

She dismissed my silence with my hand still holding her waist tightly. Before I knew it, her lips brushed against mine like a pulse of warmth, and my entire body reacted immediately to her. My toes clenched, my gaze was drawn to hers, and her scent was even more seductive. The taste of her... it washed away my worries and made me crave more.