Work Text:
October Moon
by ML
October 2, 2004
msnsc21@aol.com
The trees arched over the road, blocking the night sky from view. No lights showed through the dense undergrowth edging the road on both sides. Only the headlights let them know there was a road ahead; the night swallowed it up behind the car.
The world was theirs, and theirs alone. It kept their secrets, told no one where they were going, or where they'd been. What they'd seen and done was between themselves and the night.
She looked at her partner, his face illuminated by the glow of the dashboard. His eyes stayed on the road, but the lift at the corner of his mouth told her he knew she was looking at him.
His long fingers caressed the wheel, thumbs rubbing up and down. She thought of those hands in other situations, past and future.
The road took a sudden turn and all at once the full dome of the sky appeared before them. A scalloped edging of clouds trimmed the horizon, and from this peeked the burnt-orange moon.
By unspoken agreement he pulled the car off the road and they got out of the car. The air was sharp but not unpleasant, a sip of cold cider. Together they watched the moon rise from its bed of clouds, slowly and steadily climbing into the firmament of stars. As it progressed, it gradually transformed from orange to amber to apricot and finally to its familiar pale golden glow.
The car edged back onto the road, the way clear. The moon stayed in front of them, leading the way home.
end.