A short story about a gust of wind that travels along the beaches at night.
The pale sunset gives over to the pale moonlight and the stars break through the darkness giving their strength to the moon. The lost sand is given back to the beach as the ocean gives up its hold by order of the moon. A gull cries out searching for a response. The empty sky and the far off horizon hear nothing. The moon hangs in the sky pondering all that it knows, for many secrets are shown under the cover of its pale light. The gull cries again begging for a response. The ocean responds with a whisper from its waves. The warm air parts as a cool breeze invades the serenity of the night. The night wind hears the gull’s cry and lifts the gull high in the air like a father picks up his child in adoration. They dance to the sounds of the waves crashing on the sand and the rustling of beached seaweed. The gull, sated with the attention, is returned to the beach where a child’s ball was neglected and forgotten during the haze of the summer day. The darkest hours of the night have come and that ball is now remembered. The ball rolls across the sand as it is batted left and right by the night wind. Around and around it turns and tumbles continually changing direction, but always keeping the wind’s attention. Paper bags fly high into the air and join the dance like lost kites. It’s a never-ending carnival while the moon watches over and the waves keep the rhythm alive. But the night must end here and the night wind must move on to the next forgotten horizon keeping the eternal night. The paper bags slowly settle. The ball stops rolling. The moon moves on to the next horizon and the night wind must follow. The gull cries one last goodbye before the stars fade and the first rays of the newborn sun climb over the edge of the ocean and the forgotten horizon is now remembered.
