The sky was blazing with stars.
Every now and then,
a meteorite flashed silently above.
In front of me,
a giant bonfire was also blazing—
producing its own flashes of light,
little fireworks of sparks
rising in the extreme heat.
Beyond the fire,
the ocean cast its magical rhythm,
a gentle beat
to reinforce the spectacle above.
I stood before the fire
and contemplated the scene.
My face flushed by the heat,
my skin protesting
until I could stand it no more,
and I backed away.
It was mesmerising—
primeval,
calling to me with crackles and pops,
an alien tongue
I could not understand
yet knew immediately
what it wanted.
It was a simple fire.
It wanted to consume me.
Nothing less would do.
But I waited.
Maybe she would come to me,
as she once promised.
I closed my eyes
and let my heart wander
over the sands beyond—
to far-flung places,
to the place
we once met.
I felt her
long before I saw her.
Oh—
but when I saw her,
she took my breath away.
A striking white
in the depths of the night,
a ghostly apparition,
a lost soul
now returning.
The beat of her wings
grew steadily
as she came toward me,
and my heart leapt
in response.
For I knew
she carried a message for me—
one
I was desperate
to hear.