The Garden of Light and Darkness - Part 9 (Incomplete)

I am a natural hunter. Where others stomp about, I move in perfect silence by innate instinct. Many are those I've startled by suddenly appearing in a room, especially females. Not because I wished to cause them unease, but because they didn't hear me. This is because I carry much of Norway's original hunter-gatherer genes. All the signs are there. Recessive traits, so I've turned inward and returned as blue-eyed light. A foretaste of silence, of streams and forests. A way to approach females that isn't social, but primal. I can barter for their favors with nuts, or simply seize them.

Kajsa sits with her slender back turned, on her melancholy swing. Her colors barely push back the darkness. The darkness of night, in turn, lends her figure a dreamlike quality. The insect wings almost entirely still now. Yes, why shouldn't she appear this way? She is, after all, my dream.

Soundless steps bring me ever closer. My breathing too is silent, but I can see hers. Her senses cannot perceive me, and her instincts deny her that. All girls secretly wish to be caught. Every moment I expect her to suddenly turn and look at me with a face contorted in fear, yet she remains peaceful, and it doesn't happen. Vines and white flowers twist around the ropes. Then, at the very last moment, as the swing's edge moves slowly toward impact, I lean forward and wrap my arms around her, pressing my face against creamy cheek and honey-gold hair.

"Hey."

There's surprise, but her body doesn't flinch as one might expect. Either she's unlearned fear, or it's me she doesn't fear. This makes me proud.

The neighboring swing stands empty. That's just as well. I'd hate to have sent anyone to their grave, though I'd do it if necessary.

"Will you push me?"

I want to be face-to-face, so I position myself in front. Place my hands on small shoulders and send her out into the night. She comes smiling back. Back and forth she sails this way. She pushes her feet toward me like an arrow, but carefully spreads them before we collide.