Descriptive essay

A Moonlit Walk

The lunar cycle continues night by night, the moon is waxing, building energy and power. Only one night a month to revel in her full glory. This is a time of tremendous energy, I have to do something, anything, or I feel as if I'll lose it. I can't sleep, I can't sit still, I just have to go outside. I have to be free with no walls surrounding me, smothering me, no ceiling crushing down opressingly.

I decide to take a hike in the woods by myself. On daytime hikes I take time to contemplate my life, hard decisions, big questions... not at night! At night I free myself from all my mental burdens and just simply walk. At first I start slowly, I stare at the full moon so bright, shining its ethereal light on everything in the forest. It's like I'm in a dream. The night is bright enough to see all that is around me, yet dark enough to feel that wonderful sense of being alone with oneself in nature. After a time, I let my natural pace set in. I feel my arms and legs become warmer, pumping blood, life flowing through me. My breath comes faster, and my lungs swell with the effort. I feel so alive. Finally I come to my unintended destination, the natural spring on the back of our 30 acre hill. I take a long cool drink from the spring which I know comes straight from the underground aquifer. The water tastes of minerals and is sweet, better than anything bottled by far.

I take a seat on the grassy knoll above the spring and look out over the valley below. Covered in glistening ferns, silvery from the moonlight. Deep breaths, listen to the sounds of the forest over the constant trickling of the stream. Cicadas, tree frogs, and the occasional owl are the only sounds besides my own breathing. So soothing, I can finally relax. I never want to leave. This is where I belong.