The Dawning of Love

"There is mystery in how we love, but not in why." -Anne Michaels (inspired by 'Columbine' by Mark Helprin). Children high on a hill in the night, carefully tracing their footsteps at first, the countryside bandaged in moonlight. Feeling the thrill and the fear of being out beyond curfew as fairy lights flash in the valley, assurance their lifeline to safety is still within reach. Giddy with awe, gazing up at the heavens they are dumbstruck, imagining what it would be like to capture a star! Music from the campfire dances lightly on the air, shifting through the darkness like the whisper of a dream. He helps her climb a wall into their next adventure as they skip down to the river rippling merrily below. There's a feeling between them they cannot explain, a breathless attraction; joy fills their hearts and they know that they won't be the same. The first inklings of love are suggested at last, they hold hands as they stroll down the hillside - the spell has been cast...