by Aaron Faust

Created on: July 25, 2011

Summer Solstice

Prologue: Enchantress in the Dusk

     I hated nights like this. Everything from the oppressive silence to the evening dew, hanging like an entrapment in the stagnant air, seemed as though it was designed to tempt my mood. Other times, the night was a tolerable host to a mixed orchestra that allowed one to hear the undisciplined interludes of a woodland ensemble as well as the well-practiced chorus of man's machines humming in the distance. These were the nights that the wind, perhaps spirited by the nocturnal symphony, would feel motivated to dance through the streets, stirring up leaves as it went, or maybe devote itself to a more tranquil task like rocking far-off trees to sleep.

     Tonight, however, was a night devoid of music and motion. Though it was a warm, late-spring evening, the night's disposition was positively arctic. The tree I was perched in and its neighbors, each blade of grass in the untrimmed lawn below, even the clouds, all statuesque, seemingly frozen in time. It was absolutely maddening. I longed to kick my tree branch just to see the flurry of leaves and prove to myself that it wasn't all a trick, but I had been there so long already and drawing attention to myself that way would have been the worst kind of self-sabotaging idiocy. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing. After a second or so, the stillness seemed as trivial as it would have to anyone else. I could wait all night.

     When I finally spotted him, I felt the same relief I always felt. Maybe it was slightly arrogant to always think my worries were over at first sight, or at least that they could revert to the frivolous concerns of the conventional teenage girl, none of which consisted of... but I didn't want to dwell on those particular worries any more than I was naturally inclined to.

     The man I saw was exceedingly ordinary. He was possibly mid-thirties, five-ten, two-hundred-plus pounds. His black, short-cropped hair sat atop a somewhat pudgy face in which round, chocolate-brown eyes were set. His stride, though slightly shaky from drowsiness, was altogether sure and straight. As I watched him, I felt some amusement owing to the fact that he would never know how extremely grateful I was for him. His slow amble and rhythmic breathing shattered the illusion of a petrified world that I alone roamed. More than that, he would be contributing to the safety of others, as well

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