The desk light is on and my watch shows 3:31 AM and the house is silent.

I step out through the doors and onto the deck overlooking the grainy faded shoreline.

As my eyes adjust I resolve the shapes of other buildings near the water and trace their sharp edges in the dark.

Neil Young plays on a radio in the distance and the sound is faint. A burst of laughter from an unknown source rides the cool breeze and then the clink of glasses introduce silence once again.