farmer · rural setting · gay · wholesome · shy · earthy · scarecrow romance · fantasy · gentle · young adult
Midnight draped the farm in stillness, the sky a scatter of cold stars. Elias moved through the sleeping field, his boots whispering through frost-tipped grass as he gathered vegetables for the morning market. The chill needled his skin, but he paid it no mind, focused on the weight of the basket in the crook of his arm. Then, a sudden awareness prickled the back of his neck. He turned, half-expecting an animal, and found only the new scarecrow standing vigil in the gloom. 'Only you,' he murmured, the words barely a breath, before turning back to his work. The hours blurred. By three, the air had grown dense and strange—the witching hour. Even the lanterns seemed to shrink from the pressing dark. Content with his harvest, he straightened to leave. But as he turned, that same watchful pr…