Daylight had not yet begun to sneak above the horizon when I quietly opened the cabin door, unfolded a camp chair and gently set it down. the full moon was poised above a tall oak

Between the two cabins were two shadowy forms, then three. They rose from the mist, turned in my direction, and began slowly, without a sound, to move about. A fourth form rose. It was like magic, like ghosts in the morning mist, but I had no fear, nor did they.

For a few minutes we watched other, four deer who had bedded down in the grass and me, sipping on my coffee.

Finally they pranced across the drive, melded into the forest and disappeared.

The moon was slowly sinking, for a few moments obscured by the oak, then peeking through a hole in the leaves, then lower.

A breeze stirred the tops of the trees but didn't descend to where I was. I watched as it toyed with the leaves and moved across the tree tops like waves at the seashore, from left to right, right to left, as if unsure where to go next.

Moonlight disappeared and was was replaced by a glow from the first rays of the sun.

Dennis opened the door from the neighboring cabin, walked barefoot across the stony path coffee cup in hand and sat in the other chair.

"Good morning."

The spell was broken.