In The Hours Of Twilight

Every night at midnight, the purple clouds came out to dance with the blushing sky. She rarely missed it. Curled up on a blanket, breathing in the innocence of the moment. She drifts away on imaginary wings of angels, swaying and twirling, wrapping herself in the cotton candy clouds. Remembering better days.

*

Cora had learned long ago that people could not be trusted.

The only time she let herself fall into that moment of carefree bliss, was when she approached the jagged edges of the canyon. Barefooted, she surrenders her will and gives herself to the night sky. And together, they celebrate the twilight.

The first time she realized she held the power of the clouds ~ was when she was 6. She and her nana would make daily visits to the canyon to present their gifts of admiration, to the gods of the air.

Her nana was considered by many to be a healer.

Every evening, she would make the long journey from the hogan, with her nana, to the canyons edge, where they would present the blessings and collect the rare and powerful blooms of the Whipple Cholla. (Used to create ceremonial objects in the form of cactus prayer sticks.)

Her nana had been approached by some "official" men previously. They told Cora's nana that, going forward, she would need written permission to remove the plants from the area, as they were a protected plant in that region. Her nana refused, arguing that the plants were a gift to her people to be used in their healing and worship ceremonies. She had been collecting these plants since she was a child, and no piece of paper was going to convince her to stop.

As they insisted, her nana continued collecting the blooms, walking closer to the edge, to get the more mature plants. A scuffle ensued, and in the commotion, her nana fell from the ledge. As Cora lunged to save her nana, one of the men grabbed for her, to save her from falling. As he reached for her, his hand drifted through her like she was vapor.

They watched in horror as the little girl dove over the edge of the jagged, unforgiving cliff, after her nana.

They stood in disbelief, hands cupped tightly over their gaping mouths, as they tried to assess what they had just witnessed.

As they leaned out over the jagged rocks, as far as they dared, to see what they might discover. To their amazement, they saw young Cora, floating in the clouds, like a dove. She was holding, what looked like a sparkling crystal, that shimmered so brightly, they had to turn away and cover their eyes.

They watched, bewildered, as Cora released the light into the clouds.

They appeared to dance, and the slightest sense of delight filled the air. The men fell to the ground, dumbfounded at what they were witnessing.

This dance went on for several minutes, and Cora, with both of her hands, blew kisses into the blushing sky. As she waved her hands, hundreds of stars began to appear and twinkle. They watched in astonishment as Cora made her way through the constellations, as she passed, the stars became brighter, and seemed to flash out a melody.

Cora became like a color, blending and swirling, mixing with the clouds until the light from the crystal was completely absorbed into the night sky.

Then, there was darkness, darkness these men had never experienced before. As they began to cry out in fear, a soft light appeared before them, leading, guiding them back to safety, away from the edge.

When they could see again, there stood young Cora. She looked like an angel, covered in stardust. And as quickly as she appeared, she was gone.

The men sat in the stillness. Several minutes passed before one of them spoke. "What just happened?" He gasped. The second man simply stood-up and walked to his car.

They sat, without speaking another word, until daylight. As the sun began to rise, looking into his rearview mirror, as he drove away, the driver said, "Maybe we should leave that out of the report."