He woke with the taste of dawn fresh and sweet on his tounge, half an hour before sunrise, as usual. He didn't sleep much, as wakefulness invigorated him far more thoroughly than repose. The dormancy of slumber made him uneasy; dreamless, peaceful nights moreso than fitful ones. He mistrusted any evening which permitted him to take undisturbed ease in her arms.
Unhesitatingly, he pushed himself out from his sheets and coverlet, stretching, with a wide, hungry yawn. He slipped on fresh linen shorts and half strode, half bounded up the stairwell, and out through the little door to the roof. He knelt at the edge of the rooftop with the solemnity of a priest at lauds, eyes fixed on the East, just before the first hints of lightness began to worry at the persistant sparkling of Venus.
He identified with that dauntless litle star, even as it would be immolated in the glory of day. He bid it salut as the sun rose up, uncovering her nakedness for him, and for the rest of the world. Regarding this display with an almost erotic bliss, he contemplated all of the ways in which the potential of the day could be siezed, impregnated, and made to bear either fruit or arms, for glory and country.
Though he watched this sunrise and this moment with a keen awareness of how the this-ness of it would be lost soon forever, his eyes bore through it like his intentions and fixed firmly on the Future.
Warmth caressed his barely clothed body as the sun crested the skyline of Paris. Enraptured, he closed his eyes, inhaling the sweetness of the morning odours, old smoke and new bread. The waking men, the creaking of hinges and wheels in the streets, the high-pitched whispers of the larks were all endearments to him, whispered huskily in his ear and heavy with promises he intended to see kept.
A baby shrieked in the buliding across the alley from his, and was shushed by a cooing, matronly voice. The beginnings of a slight breeze stirred his hair like fingers, and intermittent clouds converted the sun's steady stroking to gentle petting. He moaned softly, wanting to push through it all, to a world of never-ending wakings, and everywhere light.
Six bells came with a resounding clang from the toscins all over the city. Notre Dame under-rumbled them all, and he responded to her call with determination. His fists clenched, his toes curled, and with a final, euphoric shudder, his contemplations dissolved in the brilliance of vision. Goal and Way burned diamond in his mind, many faceted and perfect, and he sighed as the sheer power of it faded into mere resolve.
A slight smile curled his lip as he nodded humbly to the horizon, and went inside to put his clothing on.
Unhesitatingly, he pushed himself out from his sheets and coverlet, stretching, with a wide, hungry yawn. He slipped on fresh linen shorts and half strode, half bounded up the stairwell, and out through the little door to the roof. He knelt at the edge of the rooftop with the solemnity of a priest at lauds, eyes fixed on the East, just before the first hints of lightness began to worry at the persistant sparkling of Venus.
He identified with that dauntless litle star, even as it would be immolated in the glory of day. He bid it salut as the sun rose up, uncovering her nakedness for him, and for the rest of the world. Regarding this display with an almost erotic bliss, he contemplated all of the ways in which the potential of the day could be siezed, impregnated, and made to bear either fruit or arms, for glory and country.
Though he watched this sunrise and this moment with a keen awareness of how the this-ness of it would be lost soon forever, his eyes bore through it like his intentions and fixed firmly on the Future.
Warmth caressed his barely clothed body as the sun crested the skyline of Paris. Enraptured, he closed his eyes, inhaling the sweetness of the morning odours, old smoke and new bread. The waking men, the creaking of hinges and wheels in the streets, the high-pitched whispers of the larks were all endearments to him, whispered huskily in his ear and heavy with promises he intended to see kept.
A baby shrieked in the buliding across the alley from his, and was shushed by a cooing, matronly voice. The beginnings of a slight breeze stirred his hair like fingers, and intermittent clouds converted the sun's steady stroking to gentle petting. He moaned softly, wanting to push through it all, to a world of never-ending wakings, and everywhere light.
Six bells came with a resounding clang from the toscins all over the city. Notre Dame under-rumbled them all, and he responded to her call with determination. His fists clenched, his toes curled, and with a final, euphoric shudder, his contemplations dissolved in the brilliance of vision. Goal and Way burned diamond in his mind, many faceted and perfect, and he sighed as the sheer power of it faded into mere resolve.
A slight smile curled his lip as he nodded humbly to the horizon, and went inside to put his clothing on.