Back to the PawMark Article Menu© 2001-1999 by Ed Presnall
All Rights Reserved
As Published in the Clumber Crier
Emerging from the shadow of a building, they seemed
to materialize from the darkness and stood silently
conversing under the trees. For a moment, they
blended into the landscape and like an apparition,
suddenly reappeared.As they stepped from the sheltered treeline, flashes of luminescence flew from their clothing, warning others to stand clear and not impede their progress. Crossing a road, the moonlight illuminated their frosty breath on this clear and cold night.
They continued on their quest, one in the lead silently urging the other on. The leader excitedly pulled and prodded for the other to keep up. "This way!" "It's over here" and proudly exclaiming with his actions - "look what I found, proof that it went this way!" They continued on, following the unseen scent of their quarry.
One step at a time, one-foot slowly placed after another, they persisted. It was obvious that their progress was slowing. The combination of the biting cold air and strenuous exercise was catching up with him. The chest pains were building while his strength seemed to ebb from his body. He quietly called to the leader to wait and slumped down on a curb, fumbling in his pocket for the small white pill, which could or would allow him to continue on.
Silent cursing himself for this hopefully temporary affliction and thinking back to another teammate who had fallen to an illness, a single tear rolled down his cold cheek. Brushing it aside, he waved away the offers of assistance, slowly stood and continued on.
Pressing forward, determined to see this to its logical end, they would endure. Through an alley, across a parking lot and a small park, between buildings and over curbs they progressed. Suddenly they stopped, this night's quest over, and stood silently gazing at the glowing orb which had lit their way.
Later as the grey storm clouds obscured the night sky, they faded back into the darkness. When last seen they were walking proudly with their heads held high. A man and his dog on a continuing search for excellence.
For tonight, the night of the bewitching, the first night in over a hundred years when the winter solstice occurred in conjunction with a lunar perigee, they had worked as a team under a Millennium moon. A night they would long remember and something perhaps their offspring could look forward to in another century or so.
© 2003-1996 - Ed Presnall - All Rights Reserved