The night that shines brightest

In the depths of nature, and far removed from the traces of civilisation, there was a rare purity. Creatures meandered through their serene, frosted landscape without concern for time or space. The air carried the essence of the wild and the lushness of the vast forestation seemed to resound vitality. At the base of the stark mountain range, the hills rolled out to a small clearing. Nested among the surrounding pine trees and deposited upon the snow, there was a charismatic, wooden cabin. Smoke puffed with slow repetitiveness from the chimney and rose to a higher atmospheric level.

A great silence lingered over the remote setting- it was more ethereal than eery. In the day, icicles would glimmer in the sun like diamonds. If the snow glimpsed upon a window of blue sky, then the tundra grass would thaw briefly for small animals to satiate their hunger. Even the two beings who resided in the cabin seemed to be in a state of hibernation. The prolonged cold season seemed to prevent their movement into the outside world, except during those instances the Northern Lights appeared. The green would glow under the doorway and a coat was thrown on; melancholy forgotten. Those moments held indescribable beauty. The red wolves howled, the chorus slicing through the night in harmony with the dancing aquamarine. They would stand and watch the spectacle. Kane was always left breathless as he gazed from the sky to Allegra- it seemed to be the only time she regained her shining aurora and curiosity. A brief smile would flash across her pale, moon-like face. Hazel eyes glistening with tears of delight. Kane refrained from the urge to hold her. He knew she needed space. Despite her belief in his reprieve, her withheld pain and torment seemed to divide them more than the distance that stretched between the cabin and the closest city. It had been the city where her heart had broken. All the lights there had fallen. Into the ground. Life had a way of reminding all beings of flight that they were destined to fall hard and fast, somewhere along the line. Kane closed his eyes before they headed back to the cabin, remembering when his angel had first shared her narrative with him.

A woman had been sitting in the booth seat by the window adjacent to Elizabeth Street. He had seen her by accident as a pedestrian pushed him against the glass. She had smiled at him with those warm, compassionate eyes. They shared a humorous moment and then he had continued down the sidewalk. Kane had walked only a further five metres before a motorcycle veered onto the path and knocked him flat on his back. His consciousness had fled, and when he awoke, he was greeted by her angelic face once again. White light, cheap cotton sheets and the sterile environment of the hospital reminded him of the incident. Feather-like strokes from her soft fingertips brushed the hair from of his eyes. Kane frowned, his thick eyebrows pinching together. A wince escaped his lips as the headache returned.

“Do not move.” Allegra whispered in her sweet tone.

“I…”

“Do not speak.” She smiled at him with empathy and a kind of lightness.

He now could not breathe with her in his full sight.

“Only if you tell me a story. A story where there is more pain than in this instance.”

He just wanted to hold her in his bandaged arms and caress her cream skin with his lips.

Allegra’s lips twitched with pleasure or something else. He could sense her goodness and teasing nature without yet knowing her.

She commenced her story slowly, whilst routinely checking he was still breathing. A sentence would trail off or there would be a distinct pause as she observed the rise and fall of his chest. The narrative described a child- a girl raised in the country and grown among gardens. The child became a girl. People and years poked and prodded at her until she lost her blooming shape. Kane did not interrupt, but there were tears streaming from his cheeks uncontrollably. Allegra stopped speaking. His glance pleaded otherwise, and she continued. Summer heat and the wilting of desolation sparked her flame. Hectares of her burned and the girl became the land. They screamed in synchrony. The universe continued to revolve. They lost hope. Friends turned to foe. Hurdles arose and there were tripwires at every turn. Teeth snapped at her in envy and claws grasped at remaining sprouts of liveliness. The girl became a woman when she finally grew tired of weeds and bicycle races. She evolved as she finally let go and embraced her truth- the only truth that seemed real. In the end, the woman took flight and travelled the Earth. She soared across those past desert plains and did not look down. Heart strings knitted into an armour to protect such unconditional love, because love was worth fighting for. The story was one not of innocence lost, but of innocence reborn.

Kane watched the ice melt from the iris of her eyes with the final sentence that fell from her sweet lips. He sensed honesty buried below metaphors and illusion. Melting icebergs were just a sign of the times, and so was she. A connection formed between the man and woman, but the connection was lost. One light returned to glory and the other dissipated into the abyss.

. . .

Allegra wiped the tears from her eyes and let the night hold her a moment longer. She knew her pain would not last forever. Nothing lasts, it was all fleeting. The minutes she had shared with Kane had been an eternal romance condensed into this reality’s timeline. He had died in her arms before their first kiss or first date. Allegra had seen realms in this world ascend and collapse, but nothing had prepared her for the loss of love without being loved by thee. All love was vain, after all. Her heart would mend, and in the meantime, she resided in the season of winter. Spring was approaching, though. It had been only yesterday that she had noticed the ice thawing on the lake below. A purple flower had poked through the floorboards that morning also. She had to believe he was there with her in the present, seeing the beauty among the grey sleet and drowsiness of fog. There was magic in this life, and time seemed to be the greatest dictator of the games. The mountain range reappeared with the edge of dawn and Allegra knew her heart would never stop giving love to the world for as long as it continued to beat.

By Emma Donovan