The horizon pulled the sun into its embrace and darkness fell as the Earth drew in one last breath. Thick with anticipation, time stood still in the blackness; releasing its pause with the first whisper of the wind accompanied by a single cricket’s lonely song. The song gently swelled around the curves of the night.
Ever so slowly, owls awakened, stretched, and deftly glided into the air. One by one, stars dotted the never-ending stretch of the night sky and twinkled, adding their soft pulse to the awakening world. A lamb bleated in the distance, a long sad song in the absence of his mother for the first time. Cats shuffled, crouching low through the grass, seeking their prey. A creek gurgled past, it’s sound muffled in the thick night air and the soft breeze rustled the reeds along the bank, making them whistle delicately.
At long last, over the peaks arose the moon bathed in glory, its long chords adding a melody to the night song pulsating through the air. The night stretched into unending hours, its song changing with each passing minute. The crescendos suspended in mid air as the harmonies changed and intermingled before falling once more into a single ringing note, and then again began to grow.
Arms outstretched, a small girl emerged from her darkened home, dressed in a flowing white nightgown. The song paused, the creatures froze, and the silence became deafening, until, with a breath, the girl began to dance. Illuminated in the moonlight, she began to sway ever so slowly. With the slightest shudder, the night song continued and the girl pirouetted in time to it. Emerging from the shadows, the creatures of the night, eyes aglow, looked on. Closing her eyes, the girl leapt and twirled with grace flowing into the ever changing, ever growing song.
As the moon rose higher into the sky, the song changed once more, swelling quickly and then receding to but a whisper. Arms outstretched, the girl leapt into the sky, coming to rest in the moon’s outstretched arms. Weightless, she drifted, dancing with the stars. Her nightgown fluttered around her, adding a soft beat, and she closed her eyes, breathing in the magic. Through the night, the song played on, crescendo after crescendo, diminuendo after diminuendo, it grew and grew, all of it the same song, yet different – evolving.
At long last, the moon reached the opposite side of the land, the stars began to disappear in the fading darkness, and the creatures began their trek back to their daytime slumber. The girl alighted softly, once more onto the earth. As the first gray of daybreak stole across the sky, she lay in the dewy grass, breathed a contented sigh and fell asleep. The horizon pulled the moon into its clutches, the wind shuddered and then stilled. The last cricket played a single note, which rang through the air until, with great bravado, the sun stretched into sight. Silence fell over the Earth and color once more filled the sky. The night song over and the day song beginning with a faster beat, rushing.
The girl’s chest rose and fell with each breath as she slept, awaiting the song of the night.