Night saunters in with his hands in his pockets.
The hem of his black trench coat trails on the ground as his boots crunch soundlessly on brittle fallen leaves dusted with evening frost.
Shadowy wings spread from his back, blocking the moonlight from his face.
A tiny glint escapes the feathers and is reflected in the depths of
a ruby colored eye.
The phantom lifts his face to the sky, gazing up at the stars; shimmering dots of light suspended in a void as inky and seamless as the one that surrounds him.
Its still twilight darkness lulls the world into a peaceful sleep,
free of all worries and doubts. The night brings a healing softness,
immersing the world in a silent, dreamless slumber.
For Night himself, it is the reverse; the sun brings a warmth upon the world
and he hides in the shadows, slowly descending into a deep, dreamless sleep.
He cocks his head to one side as he notices a glow spreading on the horizon,
rosy light tracing the silhouettes of clouds that float high above;
suspended in the sky as if held by invisible golden threads.
He slips his hand into his pocket, fingers fumbling for a second.
His hand closes around a pocket watch that has been ticking away the minutes, unnoticed until now.
Its hands spin slowly round and round, counting off the seconds with a smooth click-click; click-click, each second echoing like the plink of tiny grains of sand echoing as they hit the bottom of life’s hourglass.
Night sighs, the moon is waning and his time is growing short.
Soon the bright flare of morning sun will slip around the dark curve of the Earth,
erasing all light provided by the milky white disk of the moon.
And it wouldn’t just bring more light, it would bring her.
Day
the one person who sees Night, and the one person who shares his love.

* * *

Day steps tentatively,
her delicate slippers barely touching the ground as she slips over the horizon.
Skirt ruffled by the wind, she twirls a few times,
spreading beams of sunlight across the barren hillside.
Tiny rays gently pierce the darkness
that had so lovingly held the world in its slumber.
Reluctantly, the shadows slide away to let the magic of a new day
revive the dreamers.
Day stands for a moment, admiring her handiwork; then she hears him.
Night laughs as his lover’s light flickers across the grass,
banishing his own shadows.
She smiles and runs across the dewy grass towards him,
breathless in her anticipation.
He catches her and the two embrace in the split second before the sun rises and the shadows fade.
As the last drop of shadow evaporates, Night lets go of her waist and whispers softly into her ear.

“Till twilight, my love.”

She nods and brushes her lips against his as his shadow fades and the sunbeams touch his pale skin.
He looks at her for a second longer and then fades into the light, his form vanishing like the shadow he holds so dear.
Day smiles and a blush creeps across her cheeks as her fingers move to the spot where he has kissed her.

* * *

True love can blossom anywhere, even between two people as different as Night and Day.