Eventually, the cold forced him up. His legs shook, clumsy beneath him, and he staggered through the tide line until he reached the road. Ahead, the village glowed with lamplight, a scattering of windows alive in the darkness. He wanted to slip home unnoticed, crawl into bed, and tell no one. But in a place this small, someone always saw.
By the time he reached the first row of houses, faces were already peering from doorways. Voices carried over the salt air, low and amused. A pair of teenagers leaned on the rail outside the café, grinning wide. “There he is,” one of them called. “The monster chased him home!”