Excerpt From: "The Halloween Tree"
He sat down beside her on the red woolen blanket which she had spread on the lawn. She looked so peaceful and glowing in the warm afternoon sun.
A southerly wind stirred the bare branches of the old oak and quietly in the distance a wind chime tinkled pleasantly on someone's porch.
He traced a gentle finger along her arm and wished silently that days like this could repeat themselves all throughout the autumn. Quiet cool afternoons spent laying amongst the fallen leaves, the warming smell of acorns and gilt leaves burning brightly in some backyard, or the nostalgic sound of children laughing as they descended the steps of their school bus after a full morning's classes.
She stirred at the light touch of a leaf that brushed her hand as it swirled to the dry grey grass. Her eyes opened quickly as if she were startled from a trance and she stared blankly at the white sky above her.
"Were you asleep?" the question was whispered, he did not wish to break the spell about them.
She shook her head, the movement almost indiscernible. He brushed her flaxen hair away from her forehead and leaned closer as if to kiss her cheek but she turned her face away from his to stare sullenly at the weather worn picket fence.
"What were you doing?" Whispered again, but this time the words were steel edged.
A bleak silence flew between them for a moment before she answered.
"...Listening." her voice was soft as it drifted to him and he relaxed his body against the blanket.
She had these moods she went into, mystical moments where she became someone ancient, weighed down by wisdom. Yet her thoughts could be incredibly naive.
He decided it was best to amuse her. "To what, dear?"
She smiled like a cat. Her expression was dreamy and content.
"Nghhh." he smoothed her hair and waited patiently for an answer. "To the grass. To the grass as it's gently stirred by the wind."
He smiled to himself.
"Huh, the grass?" He said in a quietly skeptical tone.
She looked at him in bewilderment, as though the thought of listening to anything different were heresy.
"Yes." she replied. "Too often people take the music of nature for granted. They listen to the world; the roar of car engines, the tattoo of jack hammers. But they never take time out of their busy lives to sit and listen to the clouds roll across the March sky or the whisper of leaves at the soft caress of the wind's breath. I do that.." she sighed "Yesterday, I was lulled by the sound of sap coursing its way beneath the musky layers of bark. Last week, I heard the moaning of the earth as youngling plants pushed their ways toward the surface."
He looked down at his jeans and flicked away an adventurous ant, a curious smile played across his mouth. He laughed, she was in one of her moods again.
"Of course you did." His voice was kind but there was a hint of disbelief in it that made her look at him sorrowfully. He caught that look and the faint gleam of pity towards him, a poor, unfortunate someone who couldn't hear or understand the beauty of Nature's music. Her face, shrouded by the subject's importance to her, made him think about what she had said and suddenly he too wanted to feel the enlightening calm which she daily experienced.
"Teach me how." Another whisper.
She looked at him again, her gaze hopeful and in return he smiled, an honest, loving smile.
"Close your eyes and relax. Tell yourself that nothing exists except that one idea, that single sound. Erase every bird call, every car horn, even the wind in the trees or the distant dog's bark Concentrate on the one thing that you wish to hear. If you're distracted, keep telling your mind, 'Nothing exists. Nothing is around me. Nothing is outside this space. Nothing is outside this street. Nothing isnothing was nothing is in this planet or outside of this planet except .' And you fill in the space. The ants eating away at the earth in order to construct their homes. The snow gathering in the clouds above us. Or maybe you wish to listen to the grinding bass as new trees journey to the sun kissed grass."
She said this all in a soothing monotone. And every word she said, he could feel himself getting warmer, despite the autumn breeze, and his body relaxed and began the process of soaking up sound and being. At first there was a disappointing drone of noise that deafened him to his goal; he too wanted to hear the youngling plants journeying to the surface. But after concentrating, believing, and listening he smiled contentedly as she had before.
A whisper of sound crept upwards from the dark abyss of the earth, a wonderful song composed of bass moans and lethargic flutters. His smile grew and he turned his newly instructed mind to clouds. He imagined that they must deliver forth the same stealthy murmur as the great whales which glide so effortlessly through the aquamarine waters of the ocean.
"Beautiful." He murmured.