DEPARTURE

They stood on the mountain path, he facing west, she facing east, yet both facing each other. They had walked to this point together. Now it was time to part and go their separate ways. Above them in the jeweled night sky, stars glittered as if they were millions of diamonds. In the valley below them, a million lights from the city did the same in a poor imitation. The silence between them was filled by the faint rumble of thunder from a distant approaching storm. From the side of the trail, crickets chirruped. Beyond the crickets, a night bird trilled out its lonely three note song.

"Let me feel your heartbeat," she said to him, breaking their silence.

"No," he told her as he intercepted her hand on its approach to his chest.

"Why?" she wanted to know. When he didn’t answer she gave her own reasons. "Do you fear that I will feel nothing? That I will feel no beat that shows you have no heart?"

He shook his head and stared off across the valley.

"Do you fear that I will feel your heart beating against the palm of my hand and discover that it truly is a heart of gold as I suspect?"

The distant point across the valley continued to hold his gaze. He took a deep breath and let it out in a heavy sigh. Still he said nothing. He only shook his head.

"Do you fear that if I touch you, I will not only touch your heart but your very soul as well?"

He turned slightly to look at her. "You have touched me more than you can know. It makes our parting all the harder."

It was her turn to breathe a heavy sigh. "You have been a good teacher--whether you realize it or not. Let us not say goodbye. Surely this will not be the last time we see each other."

The corners of his mouth turned up in a sad half smile. "I am old and have taught you everything I possibly can. To stay with me would be a waste. Seek out the dragons. Learn from them what you can."

"I shall never learn from anyone as I have learned from you," she said. Before she could stop herself, and before he could catch her hand, she laid it on his chest. She could feel his heart beating strongly against the palm of her hand. She closed her eyes as she committed the feeling to her memory.

Her eyes were still closed when she felt his gentle hand cover hers and press it against his breast. "Woman, what spell hast thou cast upon me?" he whispered. "Surely you have touched my heart and very soul as no one ever has."

She opened her eyes and looked up into his face. The city lights reflected in his pale green eyes. "No spell could ever capture and hold you."

"Yet I love you," he confessed.

"And I you," she answered. "But it is no spell I hold you with."

He lifted her hand from his chest and tenderly kissed the back of it. "It is time," he told her as he drew her into his strong embrace. They held tightly to each other for a few minutes. His heart beat strongly against her cheek, as its soothing rhythm echoed in her ear. Then they backed away from each other and slowly faded into the night.