The Silver Light of the Moon

:: Chapter ONE ::

I was too excited to sleep and I wished that tomorrow would come sooner, so I quietly crept out of the house and walked out of the kitchen door to the backyard. I sat on the solitary plastic swing that faced the beds of flowers that Mother lovingly tended during her free time. The flowers were not blooming but I could still smell the sweet fragrance of it. I looked around the garden, which was brightly lit by the glowing moonlight. I remembered how I had first met him here, right at this very place.

~~*~~

I was only a young girl of thirteen then. My parents hosted a dinner party at our house and had invited their colleagues with their families. Most of their children were around my little sister's age, 8 - 10 years. The kids were running around the front porch, playing with 'pop pop' - small firecrackers that popped when thrown on the ground - and generally making a lot of noise. Kids, I muttered to myself, not realizing that barely three years ago I would have enjoyed myself doing the same thing. I never liked it when I had to dress up in my 'party dress' - which had to be dug out from the deepest recesses of my cupboard - and play the young, quiet, helpful, demure daughter of the hostess.

After I was properly introduced to all the guests and after hearing dozens of "Wow, your daughter so grown up and beautiful already!", I watched as my parents and their guest settled down to chit chat. As soon as they became engrossed with their talk, I sneaked out here to my favourite spot and I curled myself up under a woolen blanket and settled down to read "The Valley of the Horses". It was a night not unlike today, when the moon was full and its glow was bright enough for me to read.

"As she looked down at the valley, she saw a solitary figure on a horse. It came closer to her until she could hear the white stallion's whinnies. She looked up and saw that the man on the horse was none other than."

"Arrrgghhh!!" Thud!

I nearly jumped out of my skin as I turned to see who it was that gave an agonized yell behind me. There he was, with his face in dirt and an overturned flowerpot at his feet. I went next to him to make sure he was okay and offered to help him up. I couldn't help laughing as he had leaves in his hair and dirt on his nose. He, on the other hand, was apologizing profusely, offering to pay for the flowerpot and asking for my forgiveness for startling me. He was just walking around the house when he tripped over that confounded flowerpot and fell flat on his face.

After righting the flowerpot, he sat next to me and started to introduce himself as he brushed dirt off his face. I surveyed him critically as he talked. Black hair, brown eyes, nicely set teeth and probably 1 or two years older than me. He had dimples on his cheeks when he grinned, which he did often. Apparently, his name was Danny and he had just moved from another state into the empty house around the corner. He was kinda cute.

"And you? What is your name and how old are you? What are your interests?" His question caught me for a second because I hadn't been paying attention.

"Well." and I went on to introduce myself. We sat there until the party was over, talking about what we liked and jokes we heard. We found out that we had the same passion for books and poetry. We both also liked being around water, which was a good thing because the beach and public swimming pool was only a bicycle ride away. After that encounter, we would often be seen around the library and the beach together.