Its Crossing

Halloween evening, as the sun was setting, I walked in the woods.  The air was chilly, with a hint of smoke, and sky was clear and cold.  As I walked, I saw a few deer, lots of squirrels, chipmunks and ducks.  They were all very busy, digging in the dry leaves, dashing between trees, not paying any attention to the people on the paths. 

I got a strange sense that evening of a deep and pregnant silence laid over the park.  It was not actually quiet, the squirrels and deer made quite a lot of crunching and crackling noise in the leaves, but all the sounds seemed to be laid against a heavy background of silence.  Even the people chatting or greeting each other as they walked seemed to want to talk in whispers, and avoid drawing attention to themselves. 

The animals all seemed almost frantic in their movements.  When I tried to speak to them, no one wanted to pause and talk, everyone seemed entirely focused on getting their feeding or gathering done quickly.  A trio of turkey hens did say as they trotted away that they were headed towards their cozy spot, that they hoped I was going to be safely under cover before dark; this was not a night to be wandering about.

Deep in the woods the path runs beside a creek bed.  At one low point, the creek bed widens a bit and runs over flat smooth stone;  it looks like a perfect ford or crossing place, except that it seems to lead no where - there is not a path on either side.  But yet the feeling has always persisted that this was a crossing place.  Some time ago I had asked the stones and trees there about it, and they had told me that at certain times there are those who cross there -- they have always done so, since long before people first walked this country.  They are not animals either; they cross here on the way to somewhere else.

This evening as I passed the crossing spot the air felt tingly, and I stopped and waited for a bit to see if there was in fact something crossing that my eyes could not see.  After a minute I got the feeling that spot I was standing, on the rock that leads into the water, was not a wise place to be.  When it came, it would pass through there and I should not be in its way.  I stepped off the rocky area a little further up the path, and waited quietly again; I really wanted to see if there was something coming. 

As I stood there in the silence, there was a sudden large noise at the top of the ridge well above me; a loud shaking/crashing/rushing noise of dry leaves and branches that stopped as soon as it started.  I looked up, and the branches in one of the trees at the top of the hill were shuddering, as if something had shaken then harshly and then let go.  Everything was quiet again, not even any squirrels rustling.  A moment later, another tree a few yards further down the ridge did the same thing, a group of upper branches suddenly shaking violently and then stopped.  I got a very strong sense that something was coming.  I was not in immediate danger, but it would be very foolish to be here after dark tonight.  Something was on its way, and would cross here tonight after dark.  I got a clear message from the surrounding trees and animals that it would be very dangerous to meet it, you do not want to come to its attention; as long as you are tucked in your home and quiet by nightfall you are safe, but only a fool would risk interfering with it.  I decided that I would take their advice, and continued my walk rather quickly, leaving the valley and returning home.