Library:Moonlit Vigil

This story by Spoon is part of.

Moonlit Vigil
by Spoon

a selection from the Tales of Lux from the Lux Sanctuary Library Collection

The first time I saw her I thought it was a dream.

I was on my way home, with happy thoughts in my head and cradling an almost empty jug in my arms. Needing to relieve myself and given the courage only found at the bottom of a pitcher, I stepped up to the cliff’s edge to look fate in the eye and show how I felt about the cards I had been dealt so far.

That was when I glanced down into the canyon and noticed a pristine slender figure in the lake. She was laughing while splashing twinkling droplets in the moonlight. Although she didn't look my way, I quickly retreated homeward.

Over the next weeks a transformation came over me. No longer did I seek the relief of liquor. Instead I slept by day and spent the evenings taking the winding way into the canyon, strolling along the lake and contemplating how a dream could so utterly possess me.

It was under a clear sky's moonlight that I saw her again. I was sitting on the lakeshore, when I heard a splash and a laugh. I turned and there she was. So beautiful a sight that for a while I forgot to breathe. When I finally remembered, I let out a gasp, but the sound startled her and she quickly retreated away. I turned around and apologized profusely. Angrily she called to me that I better go away, for her big brother was there to protect her. Turning to where she pointed, I could see a silhouette of a large man with a stick standing on the cliff above us.

The next clear moonlit night I hid behind a tree making sure the foliage would hide me from her brother’s watchful eyes. My heart raced and skipped beats as I watched my obsession bathe in Daedalus' embrace. But this time when she stepped out of the water I could have sworn that she stole a glance my way.

The hopes and fears were driving me insane. Did she know? Was it just my imagination? I had to find out. The next clear moonlit night, I sat in front of the tree, shadowed by the foliage, but visible from the lake. When she finally arrived she looked straight at me, undressed, and stepped into the water.

One cannot even fathom the joy sitting there partaking from a distance in this canvas of radiance. But with fall approaching I had to grow bold. I stood up, but seeing my move she rushed forward trying to intercept me before her brother would see me. That was when my stomach went cold, seeing her up close for the first time I noticed I could see through her. She saw my bewilderment, stopped and with a sad smile descended into the lake.

Quickly I climbed the cliff wanting to confront the silhouette. My surprise was complete when he turned and, though still tall, was an old man leaning on his cane. Taken aback, I challenged why he stood there on moonlit nights. With a hoarse voice and with a stream of tears running down his cheeks he told me a story from his youth. The night before the grand dance, his younger sister had wanted to take a cleansing moonlight bath. His parents had charged him with her protection and he had followed her to the lake, but with the recklessness of youth, he had strayed from his task. They never found her, but he swore that on clear nights he could still hear her laughter.

At the end of his story I gave him a hug as it was all I could do. He collapsed and for all his stature he was like a hurt child seeking comfort from a parent. For a long while he held my arm desperately and sobbed at my shoulder. When it finally subsided I held him at an arm’s length and looked him into his eyes.

"It is over," I told him, as I gently pushed him away and over the cliff’s edge.

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Now I'm standing here in the fading light of dusk. Standing and waiting with stones in my pockets at the brink of the lake — waiting for the moonlight so that I can tell her that from now on I will be the one protecting her and that I will share her vigil in the lake.

Trivia

 * Moonlit Vigil was a winner of the Scholars of Novia's "The Sisters Grim" contest.