A gong sounded in the distance, its deep voice resonating through the midnight air and my eyes shifted its focus from the dark green hills in the distance to the dimly illustrated temple atop a nearby mountain. A lone quarter crescent moon loomed overhead, casting soft shadows upon the grass beneath the solitary trees scattered about the landscape. The passing wind laid her hand on my shoulder, tugging me gently in an attempt to bring me to my feet. I shook her off gently and remained in a full lotus, my legs crossed and the soles of my feet pointing up towards the stars. They never told me what this position meant; I had always fancied that perhaps it symbolized an attempt to walk through the heavens, a stroll through the stars. But of course, romanticism usually led me astray.

The gong rang again. Every night, the temple would sound the end of one day and beginning of the next. It was a reminder that despite everything, life goes on. And move on the wind did. She left me as silently as she had come, the soft grass beneath my feet angling toward her departure as if trying to hold onto her soft embrace.

I inhaled through my nostrils and felt the cool night rush into my empty lungs, concentrating on my breathing. Emptiness. Then slowly and deliberately, I let the night escape through my mouth. I relaxed with the motion, but I forced myself to remain upright. And another taste of midnight met my lips.

Another hand rested upon my shoulder. It wasn’t the wind – she had already left. Looking up, I found myself in the dark hazel eyes of a beauty. She was looking down at me, her fingertips running through her brown hair in an attempt to control the disarray wreaked by the passing wind. A concerned look hovered on her features.

“Come on,” she smiled, “it’s time to go back.”

I looked away and towards the rolling hills. “Not yet.”

The sound of rustling grass was interrupted as she sat down beside me. Eternity passed in silence as I continued my breathing. A nightingale soared overhead, crying as it went by.
“Is it still bothering you?” I felt her watching the grass rolling with the wind in the distance. She didn’t get an answer in return.

“Do you want to -”

“No.” I cut her question short. “I’m fine.”

The girl looked away in silence. I didn’t need any more questions to deal with at the moment.

“You know -” she was persistent in her questioning “-there’s nothing you can really do about it.”

I cut my breath short. She was right, but that was exactly the reason why it bothered me. For as long as I could remember, I was taught to let things play out as they would, that things would work out as they should. But I hated that line of thinking – it reeked of futility and resignation. I loved control of both my future and those I cared for. If I could navigate myself through a river, I would.

“I know.” I said quietly.

She laid another hand on my shoulder. “Then let it go.”

The wind was back, her hand resting upon the beauty’s, another reassurance that everything was going to end well. I didn’t have the energy to shake them both off. Their touches were warm and gentle, motherly in a comforting way. The wind leaned in and whispered airy words into my ear.

“Let’s go back.” The beauty was on her feet, her moonlit robe dancing in the midnight wind.

Her hand met mine. A gentle tug.

I sighed.

“Alright.”