Moonlit Encounters by Mark Keathley

When I was a boy, we lived in the country. On some moonlit nights, I’d go outside and listen to the sounds of frogs and crickets. I would peer out into the darkness hoping to see some movement in the woods. Was that a deer moving through the woods or something else? My mind would get the best of me, and it would turn into something scary. More than likely, I’d run inside where the light and the rest of the family were. I can’t say that anything like “Moonlit Encounters” has ever passed before my eyes. It is a fanciful depiction of nightlife, a make-believe world where the perfect moment could possibly happen. Picture it. You’ve woken up in the middle of the night and peered out from the safety of your upstairs bedroom window. There, looking back at you from the tree just outside your window, are these three cute raccoons. How exciting! Then, in the light reflecting off the lake below, you see movement.  As if that triggered more action, something else pops up from behind some leaves down below and climbs up on the log to see the movement, too. The sounds of the night critters are interrupted by the hoot of an owl which draws your gaze and you see more eyes in the dark. Yes, it is a dream; it is “Moonlit Encounters.”
-Mark Keathley