Eyes in a Moon of Blindness

Deirdre shivered and looked up from the pages of her book. It was late, and the room had darkened as she sat curled up in the overstuffed chair, the light from her lamp creating a cozy circle of illumination as she read. A shadow moved across the carpet, and she looked up at the full moon, shining bright and full through her bedroom window behind a huge, strange shape that momentarily blocked a portion of the light. Dropping her book to the floor she flew to the sill and stared, willing another glimpse, another look at whatever that shadow had been, but the night was clear now, the white surface of the bright orb staring down at her innocently through the glass. Foreboding danced up her spine like icy fingers, a chilling caress that made her skin erupt in goose bumps and her belly clench in sharp response. A breeze whipped through the trees below, making the leaves dance and ripple in the silvery light, and she shook herself, trying to dispel the sense of impending cataclysm, the feeling that the earth itself was holding its breath.            

Suddenly her phone buzzed across her desk, shocking her into a gasp as she turned toward the source of the noise. Crossing over to it slowly, she looked at the display. Her father? At this hour? Snatching it up, she answered softly, fearfully. "Father?" His reply shocked her into dropping to her knees, the device bouncing gently on the carpet by her feet as she dropped it.

"Alastair is coming home, Deirdre. He's coming home tomorrow." Tears soaked her lashes as she sobbed, joy and pain warring within her chest. Alastair...