Ocean had his hood drawn up to hide his hair. The afternoon was lovely, a few puffy clouds in an otherwise sunny sky, so he must have looked like a burglar creeping around in a sweatshirt like that.
The house was two stories, a dull grey-green color with a black singled-roof and white trim around the windows, doors, and gutters. There was also a set of white stairs leading up to a little white porch. The porch was so small there was only room on it for a pair of rocking chairs beside the door, with a little table between them. It looked quaint. Ocean smiled; he could imagine Silas growing up there, playing with toys on the front porch in summer evenings, roughing around in the leaves in the yard with a dog or maybe another neighborhood kid.
\"Hey, Mister!\"
Ocean nearly jumped out of his skin. He had failed to notice a pair of bright hazel eyes watching him from between the posts of the porch. A little girl, her chestnut hair pulled up in two ponytails and wrapped in pink and yellow bows, was waving to him with a handful of crayons. It must be Acacia; he could see Silas\'s mouth and nose on her face. Silas has warned him that meeting Acacia was love at first sight, and that was proved true immediately. She was so cute she could have been in advertisements, maybe for a kid\'s haircut place or some clothing store. He just wanted to have tea parties with her and meet all her dolls.
\"Hello?\" He was embarrassed that he had been caught staring. Was Silas home? Gods, if she went to get Silas he would just have to run away. There was no way that he could explain this.
\"Mister, you gotta move. I\'m coloring that house across the street, and your big head is right in the way of the door!\"
Ocean turned around, looking at the brick building behind him. Then he laughed, \"Oh, I\'m sorry!\" Without another word, he resumed his walk, hoping that Acacia couldn\'t see that his cheeks were nearly as red as the house she was coloring.