The stars held still in the northern sky, the moon was resting above the bright horizon, the auroras ceased their shimmering, the howling of the wind subsided. I had wandered into a tableau of frozen solitude and, exposed, perceived my own mortality.
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The Silver Leaf Journal 
No one likes to conceptualize their own mortality. This is a really good piece.
Wow, thank you Thom.
Poignant but nice
Thank you.
You created a stark and clean realization, Silver. I loved the detail of the wind dying; it hadn’t occurred to me.
Thank you! Glad to know I thought of something that caught your attention 🙂
Evocative piece. You really took me there. Well done!
Thank you!
That always hits me in the gut too. That mortality. That fact that we are a speck in this limitless cosmos. Sigh…
Yes, exactly! I was trying to fit my smallness into it, but I ran out of words.
I love that opening sentence, SL! Mortality. Yeah.
Thank you!
You said so much in so few words.
Thank you!
That was so lovely to read aloud. I’ll be returning to this one! I loved the feeling invoked by the moon resting.
Thank you! It’s always nice to hear which parts people liked; I could just see the moon paused above the horizon.
This was pure awesome which is simply the highest compliment I can give it. This has the WOW factor!
What can I say but wow, and thank you 🙂
I loved the notion of a ‘tableau of frozen solitude’ and the perception of one’s own mortality. Such strong images and concepts!
Thank you, Renada. So glad it made sense!
Loved every word of this – I’m sure I’ve wandered into a moment like it once or twice. You articulated it so beautifully.
Thank you, Christine! I had another much more whimsical one about tripping down comets’ tails, but this one just seemed stronger.
As a child, I used to lie awake and be terrified of this. You expressed it so beautifully.
Me too! I still am. I try not to dwell on it but it surfaced very clearly with the prompt. And thank you 🙂