One Night Only

Just to escape the hassle of home.

Just to avoid the whisper-yelling into phones.

Just to burst free from the stifling bedroom she kept with such love.

She set out.

If only to glimpse the eerie shadow that trees left on the glimmering snow.

If only to observe the white owl with peppery splotches on his feathers.

If only to listen to a coyote singing a prayer to the moon.

She set out.

Merely to sit under the great, strong hemlock.

Merely to hear the murmur of the leaves, rustling in the wind, singing a beautiful melody, that seemed so delicate in its simplicity.

Merely to gaze up at the fireflies that never left the night sky, but burned on forever.

She set out.

The woods, full of mystery, but everything seemed so familiar. Familial.

The snow, glitter scattered, a spill that cleansed the world under it. Purifying.

The sky, ever-expanding, so close to home. Touching.

She stayed.

She stayed for a long while, until the sun rose, greeting the blanket of white with a ray of light.

She stood for a long while, appreciating the story unfolding around her.

She walked for a long while, blissfully walking, light-hearted, renewed.

She went home.