Hunter's Moon
It was an unspoken rule that Chief Blade Ranger was not allowed to go night flying without supervision. The helicopter could cut through the air with skill and accuracy...but only as long as he could see where he was going, as soon as he was in IFR conditions Blade had the navigation skills of a rock. Luckily for Blade, sometimes Mother Nature smiled upon him and created a situation that allowed him to safely patrol the park with minimal supervision even after the sun had departed from the sky.
This delightful alignment of factors was most likely to occur in the Fall when frost covered the naked trees in a dusting of reflective ice crystals. When the moon was full and the night was clear these fragments of ice would catch the light and reflect it back up into space. The effect was magical. The world was so brilliantly lit that the moon was even able to cast shadows.
During times like these, Blade could not resist taking to the air to patrol his park under the spectacular dome of stars. He would move through the sleeping park following his preferred patrol route. Below him everything but the soft flicker of campfires and the occasional sweep of a pair of headlights was painted an eerie blue by the light of the Moon.
On these quiet night flights, Blade rarely wanted to return back to base. His blades cut the cold autumn air so comfortable and his engines purred with pent up energy that allowed him to effortlessly prowl the park. Everything made it feel like the sky was calling him...which given the fact his radio was crackling to life was partially true.
"Chief, I know you are having fun...but planned to be back to base for dinner 30 minutes ago and I am really starting to get hungry." Cabbie's voice was steady but it was clear that the old plane was ready to call it a day.
Blade looked high above him and between the stars he spotted the C-119's running lights circling above him...making sure he didn't accidentally get lost and accidentally end up in a neighboring state...again...As much as the helicopter wanted this evening flight to last forever, he knew that his time was up.
He changed his course to head toward home and then cleared his throat. "Understood. Let Maru know we are inbound so he can reheat dinner for us."
"Blade." There was a touch of amusement in Cabbie's voice that indicated that he was about to have some fun at the helicopter's expense.
"Yes, Cabbie?"
"The base is due east of here."
"And…" Blade tried to hide his annoyance.
"You are headed southwest."
Blade bit his tongue to prevent himself from swearing under his breath. Then he made a wide turn and turned his nose towards home. This time using Cabbie's running lights as a star guiding him to his destination.