The Beginning

 

The end of another beautiful, salutary day. 

 

On the beach, contentedly drinking in the fragrances of the night,  I poked the fire and watched the charred remnants of a log tumble from the heap, igniting the smouldering embers underneath. 

 

The forest was intensely alive.  From out of the shadows drifted the evening celebrations of many creatures:  cacophonic bullfrog chorus;  syncopated cricket chirpings;  sweet,  soft nightingale tribute;  mournful loon-calls;  raucus gull-noise.  

 

Out on Griffin’s Shoal,  a blinking red light pulsed in silent accompaniment.