On A Night of Snow

The young boy looked out his window on a field of glistening white, lit by the full moon rising at the midnight hour. He should have been asleep hours ago, but that wasn’t his way- he loved the night, full moon or crescent, and despite the numerous times he had been punished by his parents, he knew he would once again sneak out tonight and run in the land of shade and shadow.

“What will we do about that boy? That wild boy…” his mother would complain each time, and his father would look at her silently for a moment, then rise and get the strap, go up to the boy’s room and haunt a corner until he heard the scrabbling at the window sill, the whish of the window sliding open covertly and saw the boy slide inside. His father would turn on the light, and silently whip him, several strokes, then leave, muttering “Get to bed, boy, Go to sleep. No more of this.” It was all they could think to do, not knowing how to explain to their disapproving friends why their boy danced in the night. It was not done, the preacher had told them. “It’s not normal”, the neighbors said.

To read the rest of this story, see link to The Twilight Mirror and the New Dawn by Jordan Amar

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