A strident whistling made a cacophony of sounds. Swish here, whoosh there, hiss and rustle. A peace broken by the wind blowing through trees and unoccupied space. It was dark, darker than usual. Clouds made a thin membrane over the light of the moon. Fortunately, one might encounter a star shining if they wait long enough for clouds to move and make way.
Loneliness was driven away during night-time, the sky and darkness, stars and the moon, her everlasting friends.
A cloud guarding the moon migrated to the west, letting a pale light flash on a landscape. Pastel illumination bathed lonely, old oak standing among other trees at the beginning of the forest, always alone being only of its kind there. To her, it seemed that the oak was old as time itself. But to be honest, she only had that notion because it stood there longer than she could remember. The strength and beauty, alone in the night. Its branches graciously spread out as if the oak was a king of the forest. During daylight, colours bloomed, however, at this time when darkness engulfs the land, only hues of grey dominated a horizon. Those same hues of grey turned her blond hair into silvery strings, dancing in the wind, unfurling in all directions.
She closed her eyes after dark engulfed the oak, enjoying peace of gentle wind blowing through her hair until it quickened again.
Then she heard it. Pull. Stop. Pull. Stop.
She was startled so much, she stumbled after jumping slightly and catching her feet on things placed on the floor by the window.
He is here again. She thought even though she couldn’t see him anywhere near. Where…?
There!
Pull. Stop. Pull. Stop. The sounds of motion continued through the night. Finally, he was there. She wanted to see him again after that night. Curious more than she should be. Unfortunately for her, clouds seemed to work against her. She could see a faint outline of a person and something bigger nearing the oak, to see more clearly, she would need more light. This was the first time she longed for darkness to turn into light. A very peculiar reaction considering she favoured the night more than any existing light and colour.
“Hello.” Silence. He stopped. No answer. Just as she thought he would ignore her, he turned to her, along with moonlight appearing on that very spot he was standing at, surrounding him with a glow that seemed too bright, too unnatural. Once more, he just stood there, no answer. Whether because he didn’t want to speak or he didn’t know what to say, she couldn’t say.
“You can see me.” No greeting, just a statement. With that, he turned to where he was going and continued. Pull. Stop.
The light was slowly abating, indicating more clouds chased the moon. And she was restless, she wanted to speak with him, but he was being swallowed by a tinted night.
“Wait!” she said before even thinking about it, she knew she wanted to know more. Looking at his back disappearing into distance and night.
“Be careful what you wish for, ‘cause it may come true.” Warned the voice that thanked her on the night of their first encounter. After that, when she couldn’t see him anymore, only sounds of him pulling that cart could be heard.
Pull. Stop. Pull. Stop….
ns 15.158.61.12da2
