Forest Nights

          I looked back and smiled as we walked into the woods. You stared forward and waited in anticipation. The trees were silent tonight without wind to make them dance and whisper as we passed between them. Few things could be heard. The light from the moon shone through the canopy very sparingly and splashed the ground with luminescent dots and lines of silver and white as if the heavens were lighting the way for us. I took your hand and held you closer as we tread over roots and stumps finally stopping to rest in a small patch of silver where there were larger holes in the leaves above. An owl called in the distance and the wind suddenly picked up sending the silver on a flight across the ground around us, dancing and twirling in a ballet of beautiful unorganized chaos. I took your hand and had you lay down next to me in the grass looking up through the trees as they shook. The wind died down again and the owl called once more but this time fainter. crickets were chirping gleefully around us and the animals could be heard moving carefully through the bushes and shrubs while we looked at the leaves above... once again lifeless in the cool, still night air.