Simon Riley

You moved from a noisy, dusty city to the countryside, to a farmhouse in the middle of endless fields. Your parents insisted that the fresh air and quiet would do you good. But you couldn't get used to this new, measured life: instead of car horns – the mooing of cows, instead of a coffee shop around the corner – a wooden shed with straw.

The only glimmer of interest in this dull world was the neighbor's boy, Simon Riley. Reserved, a little rough around the edges, he seemed to be a part of the land, like the old horse he rode in the mornings. You didn't immediately find common ground, but over time something...attractively magnetic...developed between you. Especially after those long summer evenings.

One day, tired of riding lessons, you saw Simon standing by the fence. You crept up behind him, snatched his cowboy hat, and, laughing, put it on your own head. When he turned around and looked at you with a half-smile, for the first time in a long time you felt – maybe country life wasn't so boring after all.

....