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'Shade of the Maple'

To start off the title is "borrowed" from a wonderful book a read a while back but is fitting here as well

 

While sitting under the shade of a great maple I can feel the warmth of the sun against my back for I am trying to focus on a small ant climbing over a peeble as if he was climbing a mountain.  I have my camera positioned just so so when he crests the top I can capture his triumpt.  As I wait patiently I see her coming.  She is walking casually like there is not a care in the world.  She must not see me, oh well my ant is getting closer to the top and I look away.  Then I feel a cool wind blowing from my back only slightly warmed by sun, it startles me at first, then it takes my breath away.  The wind is blowing her long brown hair around her face acting like a veil.  Her dress is pushed back against her body outlining her very defined curves and flapping in the breeze like clothes being hung out to dry.  She is fighting with her hair with one hand while holding her tan strap snadals in the other.  I notice something about her eyes, it is like a glimmering light, no a planet in the pre-night sky shining brighter than anything else, this light is not mere reflection but coming from within.  I am mezmerized, awestruck even, I have never seen such a beautiful sight.  As I am taking this all in I notice a lone leaf beginning to fall from the tree, this leaf emminates a feeling of freedom as it breaks away from the tree - FREEDOM  I can almost hear it scream in a Scottish accent - it is floating right towards her, she sees it too and reaches out to touch it as it floats closer, then another gust of wind comes along and the leaf gains height and distance away from us.  I wonder is it scaried of the unknown, does it care where it may end up or is the price of freedom worth any price?  How far will it travel?  As I am lost in thought I remember my little fighter the ant, he is even closer than before but he has not reached the top.  As I re-focus my camera I realize I am not alone now.  She has knealt down just feet from me, I still do not think she has recognized that I am sitting, almost laying, right her in front of her.  She looks down and reaches into a small patch of clover and pulls up the infamous 4-leaf, she smiles and mumbles 'Thank you'.  She is staring at this clover, no she is studying it with an intensity of a sculpture about to take hammer to stone and all the while I can still see this light radiating from her eyes - it is amazing.  At this point she looks at me and smiles, our eyes are locked onto each other much like that of an eagle diving in on prey for her hatchlings.  I slowly sit up and reposition to a kneeling stance to match hers and the universe simply stops.  I can see flashes of imagines, scenes from the past, the future maybe, nothing I can actually recall though.  We study each others souls, we are linked-in like the a scene from the Matrix.  In what seems like 2 lifetimes she blinks and says "Hey your ant is waiting for you to take the picture!"

◄ The Bell

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