The sunset that evening had been splendid. I had watched it myself, having come out early enough to have witnessed the fiery spectacle of colours dancing across the mountain riddled horizon. Tonight would be a long night; I would be out much longer than usual. This was a night I would remember for centuries to come, a night of realization.
Where I shone down tonight, the air was brisk and smelled of icicles on a rocky precipice. The lake was as I had never seen it before. I had known it to become an eerily placid mirror once my nemesis left, remaining warm even as the air cooled above it, but it was not so tonight.
I looked forward to seeing this lake every evening. Normally, the lake was smooth. Now, the surface was rippled. An early evening star stared wisely from his age-old command. I had barely achieved any height at all when the remainder of his acolytes struck the night sky with their brilliance. Tonight, though, I could not see them in the water.
A torrid autumn day had created a light breeze that evening, there was not a cloud in the sky.
With time, and only time, this light breeze would settle. When it did, I set into my usual routine. The night became frigid, the lake like ice. Not a ripple disturbed my perfect orbit. I watched proudly as I sailed across the sky. Then something caught my eye.
On the Northern shore of the lake, there was movement. This dispirited me. My perfect evening, my unbroken lake. That lake was my dream. It was all I had. The movement carried a flask of a hot liquid, steaming. The thought was very welcoming. It approached my lake.
A dock sprawled out before it, extending a year into the lake. It made the choice. One step and it was on the fixed portion of the dock. This was fine with me; it had not yet disturbed my glassy surface.
One more step, and it was almost on the ramp leading down to the pinewood dock. He stopped and looked up at me. Something made me yearn for it to come closer. I did not notice my bright friends looking on disdainfully.
My light shone brighter then ever before. Now, all was visible. The rusty shoreline, the houses, the forest, the river. The dock, this new thing, it’s drink and the steam floating from it.
We stared at each other in awe. I knew that I could not breach it’s world, but that it could breach mine. It stepped onto the ramp. A loud sound of metal and wood broke the deadly silence of the night as my foot settled down. It seemed unshaken. My lake was destroyed. But now, I could see a million tiny, distorted versions of myself, dancing around in the lake. Another step.
With every step added, the ripples became more intense. It reached the end of the dock, and with that, his movement ceased. A new calm fell over the lake. My reflection recollected itself back into one perfect, unchanging shape. I had introduced something new, something wonderful, into my life. Something that could change my lake.
It looked down into my reflection. Never once did it look up at my actually body, only at the reflection. Waves of light danced across it’s face. The night had a new, more exciting feel to it. Was this to stay? It would. I knew it would. How could something so perfect, so great, not last?
With no warning at all, it pulled its gaze from my reflection. I did not notice immediately.
And then, my lake was broken again. But this time it was not with the coming of something good, it was with the departure. This I did not like.
I longed to scream out, yet no sound could I make. I longed to strike it, but no force could I create. I was too weak, too unwilling. It was leaving. The great thing that had entered into my life had not even looked me in the eye. It did not even say goodbye, it merely left.
The waves radiated from the dock as my dream climbed the ramp. It did not even turn to look back as it went. I could not go on. My old light was gone. I had no desire for the new. I felt as if something was gone… but then something struck me.
A new calm fell upon the lake. A new calm, different then the first one that evening, the second calm that evening. It felt… unique. I felt as if despite my loss, I had gained more than I had lost. I knew what to see in nights to come. A reassurance fell over me, and a glow formed on the eastern horizon. I smiled and my light dimmed as the day shift took my place.
As the lake slipped out of my sight, I saw the magnificent thing again. Only this time, I didn’t care. Ripples formed. But that lake wasn’t mine. The whole world was mine. And no one could stop me.
