Richard
“Mind if I join you?”
Michael turns, a mug cradled in his hands, steaming in the chill morning air, matching the one in my own. “Not at all.” He shuffles up, making room for me on the terrace wall.
I sit, looking down the sweep of the mountain. “Amazing view isn’t it.”
“Yeah… I never get tired of looking at it. Especially this time of the day, when the day warms and the mist rises…”
He’s right. Below us, over the lake, the rising sun slants silver fingers through curling fronds of mist. As we watch, it billows and rises, like the breathing of some great animal.
Michael continues… “…They used to call it ‘The Breath of the Dragon’. It’s easy to see why.”
“It is indeed.”
Michael jerks his chin back over his shoulder. “How is it inside?”
“The same. Charlotte and Elizabeth are
