Moon Gazing

Closing my eyes for a moment, I take in a deep breath of the warm night air. The moisture hanging in the air opens my throat, soothing it. Everything is still. There is a quiet so profound that my ears ache searching for some small noise. I can feel my eardrums throbbing as if to a frantic drum beat, making the silence scream out to me.

When I open my eyes, I turn my gaze to the sky. The earth, with its gentle spin, has moved so the full moon shines between the trees. Everything in front of me stands in shadow being backlit from its spotlight, like I am center stage after the final curtain, when audience and crew have cleared the theater and curtains open once more to reveal shadows in front of me. Still, flat, completely inanimate shadows.

The world around me looks surreal and strangely calm. Trees stand in stillness as if they were two dimensional statues of the stage set. There is not even a rustle in the grass, nor a car driving down the street. The whole world is blanketed in a quiet calm creating a gentle, soothing pressure on my skin and in my lungs as I inhale breath after moist breath. I release them slowly so not to disturb the silence.

I close my eyes once more and take one more breath. A deep, slow breath. Feeling a change in the air. The moisture still hanging, waiting to fall and cool the earth from the heat of the day. I absorb moisture. And silence. Feeling the silence. Then I open my eyes, I gaze to my left and I see you there.

I am almost surprised by your presence. I felt you beside me in the silence but did not hear you. I see you with your face illuminated by the moon's glow as you bring a glass of bourbon to your lips, the amber liquid aglow, capturing light from the radiant, opalescent disc above.

As you sip, I wonder, if perhaps you see the same thing I do, feel the perfect stillness that has settled. As if reading my mind, you turn your head towards mine. Not looking, not seeing, but simply angled in my direction. After a moment, an eternal moment, we both look away. The wind chimes cue and start to play a tinkling melody a few houses away. Moments later the leaves rustle in a whisper and grass joins in harmony, becoming a gentle wave. A cool, crisp breeze caresses my skin while fireflies dance in the yard. Their light flickers in Morse code to the beat of the symphony performed in the neighborhood.

For a moment our world paused, but now it is back in motion under the light of a full fall moon.