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Of Night and Christmas Trees
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Of Night and Christmas Trees |
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Dusk Treader
Moderator
Senior Member
since 1999-06-18
Posts 1187St. Paul, MN 
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As close to a holiday tale as I'll get! All comments and critiques appreciated! It was always beautiful at this time of night. Skeletal trees surrounded a sweeping snowscape that shone in shades of luminescent blue. It filled me with a delightful chill to watch those skeletal limbs claw at the star powdered heavens. A sparking winter wonderland becomes something totally different after the sun falls. It was a pleasure to walk under the frigid sky. It was incredible to feel alive, to have the bitter wind biting the tender flesh of my cheeks. There’s no way for a person to appreciate warmth without first being out in the cold. I kept up a brisk pace, stepping down the shining ribbon of road with a definite purpose. Year after year I tread the same path, starting a half hour before sunset and walking for nearly an hour. I enjoyed the long walk; the heat rising up from my feet and into my legs and the crisp wind wrapping around my body. I saw the great bole of the oak tree now. Bark blackened by the elements and frosted with snow. I took the near invisible trail through the piercing tangle of the bushes until I was out of the ditch and surrounded by the towering heights of ash, elm and aspen. The virgin whiteness crackled underneath my heavy boots. Besides a lone rabbit’s trail and the red oak leaves skittering across the icy crust my prints were alone. It didn’t take long to reach the brink of the steep ravine I was looking for. The slope looked treacherous, but I had made it down this slope before. I sat down in the snow, feeling the wet cold nearly pressed against my skin. Then I lifted my boots and slid smoothly down the slope, the wind hit me in an exhilarating rush as snow rushed up the back of my jacked in a stinging flow. As I reached the bottom I leapt to my feet and danced about, laughing softly, trying unsuccessfully to rid myself of the now liquid cold. The cold was even beginning to affect me now, wrapped as I was in a scarf, hat, mittens and down jacket. Not much longer until I reached my destination. I could hear it long before I arrived, the crushing weight of water falling from on high. I kept walking down the length of the ravine until I could first see the glittering arc. Only a little longer and I was seeing the silvery spectacle laid out before me. The water came rushing off the edge of the cliff, all around the clearing a light mist was settling, I could see it reflecting on my jacket. Suspended in the air though was the shimmering arc. A prism of gray shone from dark leaden shades to brilliant silvers. The moonbow embraced the entire scene, the cascading waters and also a tall pine tree. The tree shimmered with icicles, as if the river nymphs had come up and decorated this tree as theirs. I stood transfixed as the moon and stars rained down upon this scene, causing the entire vista to glitter with a thousand tiny fairy lights. The tree was flocked in a way that only the beauty of nature could create. For this vision alone I make this trek every year. I began the long walk back now, I missed the warmth of the house. I was still in awe by the scene, it always leaves me in awe, year after year. Though every time I visit the scene is slightly different, never faded or dimmed, always brighter, more poignant. My thoughts were dwindling as I saw the warm golden light cascading from the windows of my home. I increased my pace and soon I had quietly opened the door and stepped into the swaddling heat of the house. I stripped myself of my wet winter clothing and walked into the living room. Krista sat in the rocker near the Christmas tree and was watching the merry dance of the flames in the fireplace. I watched her for a moment, the silver halo of her hair as resplendent as it was when it was golden. I stepped on the creaky floorboard and she stood and turned to look at me. Her face lit up with a smile that graced her with a melting smile. The cold left me with that smile; she had made the past fifty years the best of my life. “How can you possibly stand that long in the cold, especially on Christmas Eve? I was getting worried.” “Oh sweetheart, every year we decorate this tree with memories, but out there I have a tree crowned with dreams. I need the cold and my waterfall to show me that only here by the warmth of your fire have I found the realization of everything magical.” She smiled and in her emerald eyes the stars glimmered impossibly bright, framed by an arc of vibrant, silver hair. < !signature--> Abrahm Simons "I'm not sick, but I'm not well, and I'm so hot, cause I'm in Hell." - Harvey Danger [This message has been edited by Dusk Treader (edited 12-19-2000).] |
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| © Copyright 2000 Abrahm Simons - All Rights Reserved | |||
LoveBug
Moderator
Member Elite
since 2000-01-08
Posts 4697 |
Such beautiful images you've painted here, Abe. Krista will melt when she reads this!  A wonderful job, my friend. Thanks for sharing. "Where there is great love there are always miracles" -Cather "Love heals everything, and love is all there is"- Zukav |
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Alwye
Moderator
Member Elite
since 1999-06-16
Posts 3850In the space between moments |
*Sighs* This is gorgeous, sweetheart...us growing old together, spending every Christmas together...sounds wonderful to me. It's so hard to be without you on this one, but I know that soon we'll have many to share. *Krista Knutson* "One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar." Helen Keller |
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Dawn Eclipse Senior Member
since 2000-01-31
Posts 637The Horsehead Nebula |
-rolls eyes- Unlike the rest of you... I like the part with SPACE! the best. Wonderful description, my friend. That would be a great thing to behold. "Forget regret, or life is yours to miss. No other course, no other way... No day but today" ~Broadway Musical RENT~ *Cassandra Roseen* |
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Christopher
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-02
Posts 8296Purgatorial Incarceration |
Putting on the prescient hat, eh m'friend? Sorry it tok me so long to get 'round to commenting on this (I read it a long time ago, just kept forgetting to type in a response...) I love these little vignettes - they provide just enough to taste, without being overwhelming (I mean, come on - how much mush can one person take!?!?)  There’s no way for a person to appreciate warmth without first being out in the cold. I like that - and oh so true in and of itself as well as a metaphor extended to most things in life. C'est bien mon frere - C |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Time for a boost.  |
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fractal007 Senior Member
since 2000-06-01
Posts 1958 |
I must confess, I think this is the very first story of yours I've read, while you've read a tonne of mine, lol. Well, I was quite impressed with this. The alliteration on the s sound was a nice touch, as was your personification of the elements of nature as nymphs and fairies and such. On the whole, this was a lovely story with a great ending. Definitely one for the library. "If history is to change, let it change. If the world is to be destroyed, so be it. If my fate is to die, I must simply laugh" |
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