Devonne Brown

“Are you cold?” he’d been rowing, and couldn’t help but notice she shivered. She shook her head no. The sun was going down on the sandy white beach in front of the rocky cliffs dotted with weathered trees, reformed survivors of storms. A brazen sunset filled the sky, one like she’d never witnessed trailed dotted orange and purple clouds, buttermilk clouds, like they were called at home. Wispy bright blue and green, shards of light blasted through. He was bound for the middle of the lake before the sun got behind the close precipice that soared above the water that surrounded them. He’d been here before and wanted to show her something magnificent.

Timing was everything when magic was involved.

Her hands gripped the sides of the boat. He grinned at her bravery and her trust in him. She did have trust issues, but not the kind that involved a grand adventure. They didn’t talk about the other kind. It was best to let some dogs snore. The dark was coming faster now, so the rowing sped up too. It wouldn’t be long before they’d arrived at the center of the lake, the deepest part, where the magic happened.

The moon went behind the cliffs and clouds. He stopped rowing. “Are there sharks? Are you pushing me overboard and leaving me?” she asked. She didn’t think he was, not really, but since they were in the middle of anywhere a human had been in God knows how long or would be again, she did want a bit of clarification. A bit of reassurance from someone you love is helpful here and there.

He laughed, not a mean laugh at all, but with his cool laugh, the one he reserved for special occasions when he had a surprise up his sleeve, the kid at Christmas kind of laugh. 

“Give me your hand,” he said. He filled it with a smooth round pebble, bigger than marble, smaller than egg. “Drop it in,” he said. She followed directions.

A million billion blue lights swirled around the pebble as it fell, a cyclone of silence and color.They watched until the lights went out.  He tossed a pebble too, once again the kaleidoscopic whirlwind played its game. Glittering until the darkness overtook it like a veil. 

Raw elegance.