Down the Mountain
The night had fallen and the shadows of the
forest were deep and unbroken. Into
the dark stillness stole the faint sound of cricket music that she recognized as
the hauntingly beautiful mating call of the insect. The soft night breezes were
scented with the heady fragrance of cedar, freshened with the cool, clean tang
of pine. The green carpet of lawn sloped steeply away from her to create the
illusion of standing suspended at a great height; the darkness about her
absolute, her gaze drawn skyward. Against a velvet backdrop, eclipsed by the
radiance of a full moon, pale argent stars flickered. The distant treetops were
a tapestry of mysterious silver-gray light; she was woven, spellbound, into the
magical design of the night.
Glancing down at the liquid obsidian of the pool at
her feet, the bright resplendent reflection of the moon held her attention. Some
rare conjunction of the stars and planets caused it to appear in a place it had
never shone before, and perhaps, never would again. What conspiracy of chance
had brought her here? What small miracle of grace had gifted her in the guise of
mindless flight and set her upon the course that would encompass such a sight?
She was captured by the mystery of the night sky, gazed heavenward at the moon
below her feet. In response to her reverent caress the motionless surface
quivered, the stillness of the forest shifted. Drawing a breath laden with the
scent of pine and night flowers, she suddenly felt the urge to join the moon in
its solitary dance. Spreading her wings, she caught a gentle breeze and lifted
off into the night.
There were so many stars tonight. Hundreds of them scattered
around the night, more brilliant then she could ever possibly imagine. The moon
glowed as if a brilliant golden ball upon the midnight tapestry of sky. All the
familiar stars were there, all the ones that she knew from her solitary jaunts
up into the nighttime. Tonight they were much brighter than she had ever known,
and behind them were more stars and more. She felt almost as if she could have
fallen there out of that endless sky. If only she could have someone to share
this with.....someone. But she was alone.
Alone.
The emptiness of that word
haunted her as it had many a time, here in her eternal sanctuary. Or perhaps, it
was a tomb. Her home was so beautiful, but it only had her to enjoy it. As much
as she loved it, as much as she loved dancing the night sky, she needed and
longed for the companionship of others.
She flew in silence for a time, letting
the gentle breezes push her this way and that. Forever she had lived in the
solitude that was aloneness, here under the faint silver glow of the stars. She
watched as the stars wheeled slowly and beautifully across the sky. A breeze
blew against her face softly, her hair faintly washed with silver. Taking a deep
breath, she closed her eyes and let it out slowly. Approaching the ledge of a
cliff that stood at her forest's end, she landed.
Breathing in the smell of
roses once more, she glanced off into the distance at the bright lights her
mountains overlooked. There, in that distant jewel that was called a city,
perhaps she would find what she was looking for. She glanced back up. There were
clouds across half the sky now, blacking out the stars, making her a dim shadow
upon the dark figure of the mountain behind her. Spreading her wings, she caught
a downdraft and began her descent. Skydancer was going down the mountain.
The End
