Summer Guests

Mel Armstrong, a 28‑year‑old liquor salesman, finally gets a two‑week paid vacation at Oceanview Courts. After a night of thunder and surf, he wakes to a bright, cloudless Sunday that feels like the start of something new. He shares a ground‑floor duplex with the odd, art‑loving Maria de Guesgne and watches city visitors fill the neighboring courts. Swapping pajamas for swim trunks, he begins the routine chore of clearing storm debris, already sensing a change in his ordinary life.

Maria draws his attention to a weather‑worn birdhouse perched in a rose bush, insisting it holds something that shouldn't be there. When Mel pries it open, the fragile wood splinters and an uncanny presence surprises him, watched by a wary gray cat. The odd incident hints at visitors far stranger than typical summer guests and suggests the vacation may turn into an unexpected adventure. Listeners can follow Mel as he grapples with the mystery perched just above his window.