A gentle darkness had carefully shrouded the world in a black veil, like a mother would wrap her child in a warm blanket and sing them a lullaby. The great moon had risen to the sky and shed its magical light to make the night more peaceful and its silver glow would fill those who had magic running in their veins with mystical energy. It was winter time and that night snow was falling from the dark sky, fluttering in the air before hitting the many rooftops of the town and on top of the rugged features of the castle. Gradually the snowflakes were enveloping the world in white cloak. It had been unpleasantly windy during the day, but now the fierce breezes had subsided and everything seemed so silent and calm now that the night had arrived. It was like the whole town had fallen asleep. Small but warm lights of candles were twinkling in the windows of many homes, indicating that there were still people staying awake, although a lot of were already in bed to rest so they could face the new day with energy. The world felt magical somehow, as if everything was well and people had goodness and warmth in their hearts, and something like pain and diseases, greed and selfishness didn't exist in that moment. There was just peace and innocence.
Although the sun had set many hours ago and let the moon take its place in the sky and little ones should be in bed already, there was one deer boy, Kimene, who was still up and staring out of a window. He was watching the dance of the snowflakes, swaying his head from side to side and was humming some tune his mother had taught him. The light of a candle was glimmering in his big innocent and violet eyes as his gaze was fixed to the streets he could see from the window. Now that the wind was not blowing so harshly anymore, the lanterns were lit and offered light to those who would still wander outside. Kimene was waiting for to see a familiar figure approaching, that was the reason he was up so late at night, but so far, he hadn't seen the one he was expecting to see.
It was his father whom he was so eagerly waiting for. Previously on that day, his father had tried to teach him this one magic trick, a rather simple thing, but it had still caused difficulties to the boy. His task had been to cast a small orb of light, something that could be used when there weren't any other light sources available. Little Kimene had tried so hard to learn this trick, but had trouble doing it. Before he managed to do it, his father had left, for he had been summoned by the king – it happened fairly often, since he was the royal court mage. Meanwhile, Kimene had practiced the magic trick, as he wanted to impress his father when he would come back home. Maybe he had got a little help from the moon's glow, but as the day started to turn into a night, he finally managed to create the orb of light. He was so proud of himself as he did it right and was very eager to show it to his father. Kimene had taken his place at the window so he could see when the father would come back because he wanted to immediately present what he was now capable of doing. His mother had let him stay up until he would return home.
But moments just passed by and still, no sign of father. Though, the hope to see his father soon had ingrained deep into the little boy's heart, even though he knew that sometimes he was gone long periods of time, and this may be one of those days. The night could only get more late and at this point, Kimene's mother decided that this would be enough staying up for the boy. She had just tended the fireplace where a flame was offering warmth and light to their cozy little home. The burning woods were crackling, it was the only sound that could be heard beside Kimene's humming. His mother looked at him with a gentle smile on her face, it warmed her heart that her little boy was eager to show something for his father. But he should be in bed already, and that was when she caught the boy's attention.
“Sweetie, should we read some stories together while we wait for your dad?” she asked and had already managed to snatch a book from a bookcase that was standing at one of the corners of the room, filled with many kinds of works.
Kimene stopped humming and turned around to face his mother. His violet eyes were sparkling with excitement and he hopped away from the window and exclaimed: “Sure!”
He sat down on the floor next to his mother, his eyes now fixed on the book she was holding. It was a book that contained many wonderful stories around the world. Kimene could recall that they had read these tales before, but it had been a while, so he didn't mind that they would take a new glance at them. In the warm light that came from the fire behind them, they opened the book and they dived into the world of stories.
In no time they had already fallen deep into the wondrous realm that consisted of miracles, adventure, romance, bravery, mysteries and magic. Together they experienced these tales with their hearts as they uncovered these journeys page by page, living through these exciting stories from the comfiness of their own home. They would read about a kingdom far in the north that had been established on the highest mountain where they could watch over the rest of the world. Then they would end up in a desert, a harsh environment where strange invisible creatures would follow the travelers and howl in the night when they would want to rest. And from there, Kimene and his mother would find themselves in a port that was famous for the fact that cursed ghost ships would sometimes appear on the shore. Then they would get snatched by a love story where a knight would face the many horrors and obstacles in order to save their loved one. After that, they would read about a peculiar creature that was known for roaming in the night and taking souls of bad people. Then they would get lost together while reading about an odd occurrence of a village that mysteriously disappeared. And their final story was about the dead coming back to life during one specific night to celebrate the end of summer and the incoming season of darkness.
It was around that time when the exhaustion took over little Kimene and he had fallen asleep while leaning against his mother and listening her reading the tales aloud. Quietly she closed the book and placed it on the floor in front of her. Trying to be very careful and not disturb her sleeping son, she grabbed the boy and got on her feet slowly. She carried Kimene to his own little bed and carefully put him down, then pulling the blanket over him. She gave him a good night's kiss to the forehead and retreated, putting the book back where it belonged.
She looked out of the window for a while, how the snowflakes were wildly fluttering in the air and how the lamps were still doing their task at granting illumination to chase away the darkness and shadows of the night. She wondered what her husband was doing at that moment. She decided to make a cup of tea for herself and wait for a while, even though she was pretty sure that he wasn't coming back that night.
She felt at peace as she was sitting by the window, sipping her tea and listening to the peaceful snuffle Kimene was making in his sleep and the crackling of the woods. Everything felt so serene at that moment, like everything was fine in the world.
She stayed up late. When she finally decided to go to sleep as well, her husband was still gone. She didn't worry about it, she just hoped that he would be back home when the sun was up.
Maybe tomorrow they could spend time as a family again.
