Waiting for the Moon

She shouldn't go outside. Ian had warned her not to. She should not be so curious; it had hurt the woman Pandora. But Selena couldn't care about that.

She simply had to be out there, feel the breeze on her 210

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face, touch the dewy moisture on the grass. She put on her robe, then crept down the stairs and slipped outside.

Night clung to the velvet blue sky. In the distance, the sea and the forest were a giant, whispering black shadow.

"You should be in bed."

Selena jumped at the unexpected voice and spun around.

Andrew sat huddled in the shadowy corner of the porch, his legs drawn in close to his chest. His pale, thin face appeared disembodied above his black-clothed frame. Dark hollows accentuated his tired, bloodshot eyes.

She moved toward him, sat down. "What you are doing out here?"

He shrugged. "I don't like the daylight. You've probably never noticed...."

Selena was ashamed for never having noticed something like that. "You do not leave the house except at night?"

"No."

Selena couldn't imagine such a thing. "When I feel the warmth of the sun on my cheeks, I think that God is touching me."

"Not me."

She heard pain in his quavering voice; it reached out to her, wrapped around her heart in a tight grip. She took his hand in hers and urged him to his feet. "Show me the night."

His eyes brightened. "Truly?"

"Yes."

A smile worked itself across his pale face. He tightened his grip on her hand and half dragged her down the steps and toward the trees. "We have to hurry. It will be dawn soon."

Hand in hand, they ran through the trees to a small clearing. All around them, jet black trees pushed up to

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the sky, enclosing them in a murky circle pierced by spears of moonlight.

She was struck by the primeval beauty. What she'd tried to create last night with candles and light, God had wrought with shadows and silence.

Andrew lay down and patted the cold, black earth beside him. Then he pulled out a long strip of flannel. "It is even more beautiful in my imagination," he said, blindfolding himself. "Close your eyes."

Eagerly Selena stretched out beside the young man. Once again, she threaded her fingers through his and held fast.

When she closed her eyes, her other senses burst to life. She smelled the sweet, heady scent of pine and the tangy smell of the sea. A cool night breeze kissed her lashes, made her nightgown flutter against her breasts and ankles. They lay there forever, holding each other, dreaming whatever dreams slid through their minds. Gradually the sun drifted upward, pushed shafts of pale light through the still dark trees.

"I wish I were blind," Andrew said quietly, gripping her hand in sweaty fingers. "I've seen things ... bad things___"

For a second, Selena couldn't breathe. She felt as if he'd just shoved her out onto a precipice; below was a painful, ruinous fall, and she didn't know how to keep her balance. She needed Ian or Johann right now, someone smart and learned. But there was no one here, and she was the person Andrew had confided in.

Very slowly, she rose to her elbows and turned to him. She brushed a damp lock of mousy hair from his blindfolded eyes. In the warm, early morning light he looked impossibly young and frail. "You are not crazy, are you, Andrew?"

"Wh-What do you mean? We're all crazy here, except you and Ian."

"No. Johann is a genius, but he's ill. I am hurt and