August, 2024.

The cool wind rushes past as I hold on tight to the back of the moving bike, it feels refreshing, a nice contrast to the usual enclosed, stagnant work setting. I check to see if there are any stars, I spot a few, I notice that they are accompanied by some bigger green lights, though not as high, floating somewhere in between. I continued on with my examination, the sky was still, there was no moon in sight, I glance behind hoping to have new findings, more scattered stars, and a few more green floating lights, as I began to turn my head back thinking I was done, I notice something, a blue light, no two, hovering, moving, gliding through the darkness, as if there was a string attaching it to the back of the bike, two blue glowing eyes, looking, but at what?

“What are those green lights?”, I curiously ask, pointing.

“They’re lanterns”, a quick reply, then back to focusing on driving.

I look back to check on the mysterious blue lights, they were gone, disappeared into the night, was it searching for something else? Or did it get scared?

The weekend wasn’t over yet, I unsurprisingly ended up at the beach, it was quite busy, not my preferred set up, nonetheless I was happy to be there. The beach had become my second home, a place to let my thoughts run free, unmonitored, yet supervised, I felt free of all my worries, free of judgment, it was my safe space. 

I eventually found a spacious spot, breathable, enough to feel comfortable to sit, for a while at least. I put my bag down and began to eat the flavoured, barbecue corn I had picked up along the way. Numerous bites later and a corn-less cob was left in my sauce covered hands, it was delicious! 

The sun was starting to set, I figured I’d treat myself to the view and then make my way, but for some reason I was unable to give it my full, undivided attention, I was distracted, was it that there were too many people? I glanced around my surroundings, I begin to notice a sound, a subtle buzzing noise, somewhere in the background, one I’ve heard before, I glance right, there was a family sitting near, I look just above them to the direction of the sound, a drone, finally I found the source. Just as I began contemplating when to leave, I had a realisation, the drone, there was something familiar about it, I look back to where I last saw it, it was still there, I look at it carefully, my examining eyes fixed on the flying machine, and to my surprise, staring back, were it’s glowing bright blue eyes.