Quiet moments in the stable

It was a late autumn afternoon when the sun disappeared gently behind the hills and the last warm rays fell through the shade of the trees. Lena looked after the animals in her small stable, which was surrounded by nature. The smell of fresh hay was in the air while the sounds of the animals sang a calming song. She could feel the cool breeze on her skin as she prepared a handful of food for the goats. In this quiet moment, she felt at one with the animals, with the earth, with the world. But no sooner had she turned off the bucket than she heard soft footsteps behind her. Her heart beat faster as she turned around and saw Max, her old school friend. He came by often to help out in the stable. But today was something different. When he came close, there was a sparkle in his eye that took Lena's breath away. The tension between them crackled in the air, and before she could realize it, they were only a few inches apart. The sound of the goats had stopped, as if the whole world had stopped. Max leaned closer to her, his gaze fixed on her lips, and in that moment Lena knew that the silence of the stable could be broken by a new kind of tension. Her heart was pounding as the distance between them kept narrowing.