Flailing clouds tumbled silently unmovingly against each
other amidst the calm tempest that was the night. As she beckoned
her followers forward, they resumed their awkward march around
each other... higher and higher... further and further into the
starry night sky.
But there were no stars this night.
Only razor points of infinite. The infinite that oversaw
the clouds and their mistress the air... not stars but beings in
themselves. Once they were stars... but stars never lived. These
however, lived forever. The night was immortal. The night was
young... beautiful... in comparison to the cool, hard seductress
that was the frigid air. She battered her darkness around her as
she huddled beneath the tree shadows within the Cerulean Park...
and shivered fitfully in a short wail.
But the night was not alone.
"I promise" mouthed the dark robe-clad girl, shivering
within her tightly wrapped garbs. Thinking to herself... once
again of the promise they had made so many months... was it years
now? She smiled, and laughed to herself about how he had cried,
and she repressed a silent giggle. Oh... but the poor boy. She
should not have felt like that, because she knew his tears stemmed
from his own love for her. That, she reminded herself, she would
never forget. "Forever, Damian."
The night whirled her lonesome cloak around herself, and in
a trail of cool air that prompted a shiver from Asere, she drifted
away towards the sky as the mistress tempest succumbed to the
moonlight.
Nothing moved and the silent as darkness figure stood by
the frozen still pondside... ever looking and sighing over the
starry beauty it reflected. Not a word escaped from his lips, but
he reminded himself of that first day when he was forced to tumble
down the muddy hillside.
Right to the very point where he stood now.
But then, unlike now, he had turned to look into the face
of something which reassured him that love still existed. Forever,
he had looked into her trembling green eyes before she had quickly
darted away.
Now, as he looked up and into the pure black and
moon-bright sky, no love broke through his heart except for the
tear that slid down his cheek. So long... so long had they been
apart. "I'll wait." He would, he knew. He smiled.
Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by pure silencec. It slid
around his face as though the night was tempting him playfully,
but soon disappearing leaving him as alone as he sadly felt. His
bare feet felt a quiet chill, and a weak comfort overcame him as
he felt the water from the pond touch his toes. Kneeling down, his
hand swept down to the clean clear waters, intending to simply
feel its darkness across his fingers. However, a gentle wide
ripple wafted past before he even touched its unbroken surface,
and he looked up and accross towards the other side.
The night must have been teasing him.
Dazzling weak light filtered hazily down across the marble
white pathways. Separated by tiny wells of incandescence no
greater than a few gentle candles, shadowy pits of shadow and
darkness and wind hung beneath the trees. The lamps at twenty
paces did little, in their ornate beauty. But as Damian passed
sadly from beacon to beacon... the light could have lighted a
matchbox no better than his mind. He liked the dark... and he had
the feeling the night itself felt something for him too. A tree
brushed his arm, and he almost jumped... but when he turned there
was no tree, nor Asere.
Just the night.
Nothing passed through Asere's mind as she lay against the
grass, looking up in splendid awe into the heavens. Damian... she
wondered. They should have found each other already. She couldn't
wander around the park all night by herself.
She stood, and began to walk home sadly. The night could
live alone for now.
Light flicked past his eyes as he looked up, and for a
moment the night was clear and calm, not clouded by the failing
light. Something moved, a figure, he saw moving towards the deeper
parts of the park. For a second, as he wandered closer over the
grass, the night was left alone and he almost began to run.
But as he stepped from the path onto the dew covered grass,
there was no one there. "I'm sorry." He hadn't seen Asere for
several months... and now he had ruined it for her. "I... I didn't
mean to miss you." He did miss her... and as he walked
meaninglessly through the completely deserted park, he felt a tear
thud across his heart. Another fell, and he wiped it with a gentle
brush with his hand. "I love you Asere."
"Damian?" His heart stopped, and he looked to his left.
There, untouched by the wind that now ruffled the water's
surface gently, Asere smiled and sat by the shore.
"Hi Asere... I'm... sorry." They were alone, and the night
herself gave them the tranquility they thought they already were
in. But as she stood, and took his hand, she realised that she
could only feel the silence through her body when the winds fell
and true stillness could touch her.
"It's okay, Damian." She smiled serenely, and took her
hand from his, and wrapped it around his neck, pulling him closer.
Then, with absolute calmness, they kissed.
"I love you Asere." She smiled, and held her arms around
him happily.
"I know." Asere led him a little way from the waters, and
they sat amidst the grass. Again, she took Damian's hand in hers,
and he used his other to hold her close to him as the silence was
broken by night's cool breath. "I missed you Damian."
"I miss you too Asere." And he kissed her on the cheek.
"I'll always love you. Forever." She smiled, and with eyes
contently shut she let her head rest against his chest. He held
her closer, and keeping the freezing night from coming between
them, he felt her warm breath lightly touch his skin... but there
was a cool glimmer of movement in the air.
"I'm okay Damian, really." But he took his jacket off and
wrapped it tightly around Asere, holding her still against him.
"Asere... it's been so long since we've first met."
"five months."
"yeah." Damian smiled, and Asere nuzzled closer to him,
lovingly embracing him while he did also to her. The night spirit
finally left them alone, and they smiled. Slowly, as it was late
that night, Asere shut her eyes, and without any intention, found
herself drifting off to sleep. Her love held her up, as he found
her a more comfortable position against a tree, while still
leaning against him. He cradle her in his arms, and gently kissing
her on the head, he watched her sleep for a few more minutes.
Slowly, sleep overcame night... but he did not let his eyes fall.
For a second, he looked up and across the pond. Steely moonlight
drifted and surfed across the water's frozen still surface,
reflecting in dazzles and patches of light.
It was quite beautiful.
But somewhere... across the other side of the lake...
Damian was sure he saw a dark feminine figure... staring silently
and ominously across at the two lovers. Damian stared back, and
blinked.
She still stood there, waiting.
He looked down at his sleeping Asere, and wrapped the
jacket tighter around her as it almost slipped off.
He looked up, and no less than ten feet in front of him
stood night.
"Hello." She said... unmoving, neither lips nor body.
Nothing moved except Damian's frantic heart, and his arms around
Asere. But soon, after a few minutes of frozen glances, and a
blink, she disappeared.
Damian huddled Asere protectively, yet neither moved
beneath the now pitch black night.
The first rays of the morning later rose across the water,
yet Damian lay awake beneath Asere's head.
"I'll always protect you." He promised her as she slept
still. "I'll always love you. I promise." He smiled, and a tear
fell from his face to hers. "Forever."