"Harvest Moon"
“I should have known this was where
you’d be. Observing another full moon, my love?”
Veelancia glanced over her shoulder.
Her deep green eyes shone like two tiny lanterns that allowed her to see in the
dark. “Would you kill the lights inside, please?”
He replied by waving a hand behind
him, and the cabin went dark.
It was as if that signaled the
universe to pump up the power, and the Milky Way burned with greater luminosity
overhead. But the brightest glow came from the beautiful sherbet orange-colored
orb hanging above the treetops.
A scraping noise let him know his
wife had brought the other lounge chair around the pool and set it beside her.
He eased himself down in it to join her.
“All right. Tell me what I’m looking
at. What’s it called this month?”
She laughed softly. The sound of it
made his heart flutter. No matter how many years they’d been together, her
gentle laughter always affected him that way, and always would.
“This won’t surprise you, but it’s
called the Harvest Moon,” she replied.
“Of course. This is the time of
harvest.”
“And it’s also known as the Full
Corn Moon, or the Corn Moon, or the Barley Moon.”
“Didn’t you say last month’s moon
was the Barley Moon?”
“They’re interchangeable,” she
acknowledged. “Just like you can sometimes call the full moon in October the
Harvest Moon.”
Alaman let out a bark of laughter.
“How do you manage to keep track of all that? Why does it have to have a name,
anyway? To me, a full moon is a full moon.”
“Why do you pay so much attention to
when the equinox occurs, you with your spells and potions?” she countered.
“That’s different.”
“Uh-huh.”
He knew that tone, and chuckled as
he stared back up at the glittering panorama above them. “Well, it’s the
perfect night for moon gazing. The rains have let up long enough for us to get
a cloudless sky.” He started to breathe in the surrounding scents when he
paused. “Unless you…”
“No, I didn’t have a thing to do
with the weather…this time,” she quickly countered.
He chuckled. “Anyway, I’m glad
autumn will soon be here. I like the summer, but not the sweltering nights.”
“I like the cooler, crisp days,
too.” She smiled at him. “Remember that one September night a few years ago?”
How could he forget? He could almost
feel the blood rushing to his extremities as he recalled their first time
together. The perfection of it. The love between them. It hadn’t been long
after that when he asked her to marry him.
“Damn it.”
The sudden irritation in her voice
drew him out of the memory. At the same time, he heard a soft zzt!, accompanied
by a tiny flash of light.
“Speaking of rains and sweltering
nights…” she began. In the bright moonlight, he saw her gesture again. It was
answered with another zapping sound and pinprick of light occurring almost in
front of her nose.
“Woman, are you seriously taking out
mosquitos one at a time?”
“Humor me. It gives me delicious
satisfaction to get them back for trying to bite me.”
“You know there’s an easier way to keep
those pests off of us, don’t you?” Lifting his hands, he made a spreading
motion. A thin web of the palest yellow spread upward and outward until it
became a protective dome that settled over them.
Veelancia cast him a disapproving
eye. “You sure know how to take all the fun out of bug killing.” She pointed
above them. “And that blanket you put up is blocking our moon.”
He could tell she was somewhat
teasing, but there was also an underlying tone of annoyance. “If I dismiss it,
the mosquitos will return.” He had to say it even though he knew she was
already aware of the consequences. To his amusement, she waggled the fingers of
one hand, creating a thread-like pattern that wove above her fingertips.
“Then I challenge you to a shooting
contest. Loser has to conjure up dinner tomorrow.”
Alaman felt the smile spread over
his face. “Is that all? Why not make this more interesting? Raise the stakes a
bit.”
Her eyebrows rose. “Name it.”
“Winner gets to pick the position.”
She cracked up. “You’re on!”
A simple wave, and the net
disappeared like wet cotton candy.
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