"Gray, white, or red?" Isaac asked himself, peering down at the small cluster of pebbles cupped in his hand. He had to squint hard to distinguish any colors at all in the dim, pre-dawn light. "Red." He snatched a smooth red pebble from his hand and then wound his right arm backward and forward, effortlessly launching the small rock into the air.
        The projectile hit its appointed target, a roughly-made second story window with panes of weathered oak, with a slight clatter and a thump. Isaac grinned as a dark figure peered down at him from inside. He made frantic gestures toward the rapidly lightening sky and the silhouette in the window quickly disappeared.
        Moments later, a girl clad in a simple white dress rushed silently rushed from the house, her long, brown curls flowing behind her. Her dark eyes held not even a trace of sleepiness from being awakened at such an ungodly hour. Instead, an excited anticipation seemed to emanate from her.
        "Good morning, Eve," Isaac said, smiling at the girl. "I was afraid I'd have to go without you this year."
        "That will happen only when God himself strikes me dead," she chuckled softly. "Besides, I couldn't bear to break our tradition."
        Isaac grinned wordlessly as he reached for her hand, as he did every year, and they sprinted off to the east, racing the rise of the sun.
        Today was Solstice, the beginning of the long-anticipated season of warmth in the Northlands. Dance, music, wine, and food awaited them later that day during the annual celebrations. But first this day would begin the same way it would end: Isaac and Eve together in their secret hideaway concealed in the dense woods.
        The hideaway was a special place that only the two of them knew existed. They had accidentally discovered it several years back as small children roaming the countryside in search of adventure.
        And what a discovery it was! The "hideaway" was actually an ancient circle of standing stones, huge dark gray monoliths etched with primitive carvings from a primeval people and culture long lost to memory. Isaac and Eve had found it within the forest, overgrown with a tangle of trees and weeds. Throughout the years, they often came back to this place, whether on daytime excursions or a nighttime campout. They had cleared out all the excess vegetation from the circle and it now stood there proudly, their own private fortress steeped in the history of countless centuries gone by.
        "I think we're gonna make it," Isaac said, watching the slowly deepening oranges and reds of the early morning sky. The pair dropped to their hands and knees and squeezed through a small, nearly invisible opening in a dense cluster of lush green bushes. The crawled for a few minutes through a tunnel of thick overgrowth, sticks and leaves catching on their hair and clothes, before coming out into a secluded opening.
        Brilliantly tall green-leafed trees surrounded the circle of monoliths, forming a soaring canopy arching high overhead. A sense of great age and magic pervaded the place, commanding an awed reverence in each living creature that entered the circle.
        Isaac was standing in the center of the ring of massive stones, his head pointing upwards to the sky as if searching for something. "Ah, there you are," he whispered in a thoroughly satisfied voice, eyeing a single bright star overhead whose shimmering presence was fading quickly in the ever-increasing light of the soon-to-rise sun. He extended a lean, muscled arm upright towards the star before tilting his head back down to look at Eve.
        "Okay, now what?" He looked expectantly at Eve who was placidly leaning against a dark moss-covered monolith. She seemed so at home sitting there, despite the bright white dress that caused her to stand out against the deep earth colors of the forest. Her feet were bare and her skin tanned from countless hours of romping around the sunny countryside. Gold-tinged brown curls fell softly on her naked shoulders in spiraling ringlets.
        She was examining the ground, her head tilted downward and to the side. She raised only a dark pair of eyes, calmly meeting Isaac's, before answering. A smile played on her lips. "Guess," she said in a calm, breathy voice. Isaac flashed her an impatient glance to which she responded with soft, amused laughter. Isaac already knew what came next. They did this every year on Solstice morning; this was their ritual. But Eve instructing Isaac on what came next was part of their tradition, so she at last obliged him.
        "Using the star as your focal point, turn three circular steps to your right." She emphasized the "circular" remembering well the times that Isaac had failed to turn in a circle and instead sauntered off towards the south end of the stone circle. "Gooood!" She spoke slowly and carefully as if congratulating a young child.
        Isaac chuckled good-naturedly. "Can't you just let the past be?" he said, peering backwards over his shoulder at Eve.
        She smiled mischievously at him. "Some things are just too good to let go." She raised her eyes and gazed at him for a few seconds before quickly glancing back downwards. "Anyway," she murmured, clearing her throat. "Where were we?"
        "I was walking in circles."
        "Right. Circles. Now, from where you are standing, walk nine steps directly forward. You'll come to a large stone. Carefully scrape off the moss in the area immediately around your outstretched arm."
        Eve stood up to watch, peering at a distance over Isaac's shoulder from her place on the opposite side of the circle. Isaac reached for a short knife tucked inside his belt and slowly began to scrape away a year's growth of green peat moss. Bits and shavings of the growth began to fall off, revealing underneath what looked to be hundreds of scratches and gouges on the stone.
        Isaac backed away from the stone and breathed in deeply. He looped his knife in his belt and slowly walked backwards toward Eve, carefully eyeing the marked stone in front of him.
        "Looks the same every year. Amazing, isn't it?" he breathed in a voice filled with anticipation and something nearing reverence. He put a hand on Eve's shoulder and gently pulled her down to the ground. They sat huddled against each other, both eagerly watching the stone.
        A single golden ray of warm morning sun touched the base of the stone. Instantly, the marks and gouges on the monolith took on the appearance of a primitive carving faded from age and years of weathering.
        The light moved upward along the stone, the areas of shadow in the carving and those illuminated by the sunlight intermingling in a flirtatious dance. Again the appearance of the carvings morphed into another form, this time an enigmatic picture that just tickled the edge of memory as if it should be recognized.
        "Here it comes!" Isaac's hand was on Eve's forearm, tapping it excitedly.
        The light burst onto the surface of the carving, causing the stone to seemingly come alive and breathe in the life of the surrounding forest. The scratches and gouges on the monolith's surface metamorphosed into delicate figures etched into the rock, flowing in lifelike motion animated by the newly risen sun's radiance.
        "What does it mean?" Isaac was leaning forward in earnest fascination and absent-mindedly slipped his hand over Eve's as they watched together.
        Ages upon ages ago, the ancient people who had lived here erected the standing stones in such a precise and calculated way that on the morning of summer Solstice, the sunlight of the rising sun would strike the impossibly intricate carving on the far stone, making it seem as if figures of people were dancing and moving about. Years ago in their childhood, Isaac and Eve had convinced themselves that the carving told some kind of story. A story about the ancient civilization who constructed the circle, perhaps. Maybe it was some great battle. Maybe it was an old myth. Maybe it was some kind of prophecy.
        Whatever it was, it appeared to be some kind of tragedy that centered around two people. No matter how hard the two tried to be together or how passionately they wanted to be, something always stood in their way. And they were alone, always alone, but desperately trying to find each other again.
        The sunlight moved higher up the carving and the figures on the stone moved in an increased frenzy as if they knew the end was near. The main figures moved towards each other painstakingly, straining as each tried to reach the other. Figures in the background appeared to go into a frantic panic as the two at last clung to each other with determined, steadfast grips.
        All of the figures in the background seemed to tremble as one when they saw that there was no breaking apart the two. Slowly, the entire background, scenery and figures all, seemed to crumble and fall away until all that could be seen was the embracing couple so despairingly holding each other.
        The sun's light at last crept away from the carving as it continued to rise, until at last the couple could no longer be seen either.
        Isaac and Eve sat there silently for a few moments, unmoving. Both still were staring at the stone opposite them across the circle. It now looked as it had before; a large dark gray stone that stood upright, gouged with hundreds of meaningless scratches. A faint drumbeat from the direction of the sea sounded on the wind and whispers of people singing from a distance caught in their ears.
        Eve breathed in deeply and turned her head to Isaac, whose attention was still on the far monolith. A lock of golden blond hair fell across his blue eyes. "Isaac," she whispered softly, "we should go."
        He turned towards her, studying her face. He nodded silently and gave her hand a brief squeeze before letting it slip from his grasp. "I left Ava over there," he said quietly, pointing to the right at a spot between monoliths where the dark brown mare could be seen. He had brought her there in the wee hours of the morning, as he did every year at Solstice, before going to wake Eve.
        Isaac's hand rested lightly on the small of Eve's back as they walked over to the horse silently, each lost in their own thoughts. The horse turned its head and regarded them disinterestedly, munching on a gob of grass and dandelions as they approached. Ava wore no saddle; Isaac and Eve had never found much use for one, always far enjoying the freedom and exhilaration of riding bareback to riding in a constricting, uncomfortable worn leather seat.
        Eve stepped into Isaac's cupped hands and effortlessly mounted the placid mare with a practiced grace. Her legs hung relaxed on either side of the horse, bared to the thigh as her white dress was not made for riding. She extended an outstretched arm to him and pulled him up gently as he leapt from the ground. He settled in snugly behind her, his arms around her waist.
        Eve turned her head towards Isaac ever so slightly. "That carving, that thing-" she whispered, "it still gets us every time, Isaac. Why is that?"
        He breathed softly into her ear. "I don't know, Eve. I don't know."
        Isaac gave the mare a solid smack on the rump and they galloped off, the sunlight-dappled forest rushing by them in a swift blur.

. . . r e a d  c h a p t e r  t w o  n o w . . .
c l i c k  h e r e