On a Dark Night

 Let me paint a picture for you,

You find yourself standing in a clearing. You look up at the endless deep ink-blue sky filled with a thousand stars. Its glittering, jewel-like eyes look back. 

The full moon hangs like a brilliant, glowing golden orb, lighting the landscape around you. Mesmerized by its light like a moth to a flame, you linger a while...

Trees sway in the wind, bending to and fro, silhouetted by moonlight, their lacy leaves caressing the air. 

Their branches gently scratch at the window panes of an old house like long fingers searching in the dark. 

The wind gently howls and whispers as if mourning and telling secrets of a long-lost love. 

Swirling fallen leaves, they dance a lonely waltz through the cold air as you make your way across the field and to the steps of the house. You open the door and step inside. 

In the darkness, you can see a crack of warm flickering light shining through a door a flight or two up. It’s like a beacon. On a dark night in an old house, wooden stairs creak like bones. 

You slowly make your way up the stairs and into the room, leaving the darkness of the stairs and hall behind. The room is bathed in warm candles and firelight; exotic scents fill the air.

You see old bookcases and shelves lined with antique books and strange artifacts. Tall windows are shrouded in heavy velvet drapes that appear like soulful eyes watching.  

The wide wooden floorboards are covered in colorful Persian rugs, soft and plush beneath your bare feet. Come, sit by the fire, and let it wrap you in its warmth. 

Watch as the red and gold flames flicker and flare, as they hold your gaze with their hypnotic dance…