Outside the front door my eyes instinctively look up. Who will be shining on me this morning? Oh great gods above, are you even aware that this tiny piece of cosmic flotsam known as Youngblood exists? In your consciousness, I doubt it. But perhaps in your soul you can feel my presence as I feel yours.

We are one.

Venus and Jupiter shine brightly in the pre-dawn sky. How I love the early morning! I love its solitude, its quietness, its calmness. The world is at peace in these precious hours as I follow my secret trail to the mailbox.

There is a slight breeze this morning. A remnant of a summer breeze, laced with the frilly coolness of autumn. The slight gusts caress my face, flirt with my tail. Early morning's eolian message is not lost on me. Autumn approaches, winter hovers not far behind. Death, then rebirth. And the cycle begins anew.

I follow the sidewalk to the curb, then step into the driveway. The world is cloaked in darkness save for the stars above. I am moving quietly, on cat feet, so as not to make even a ripple in this perfect universe. I slide through the night unobtrusively, across the drive, through the walkway of the 1300 building. The windows in 1313 are dark, as are all the others. The world sleeps. I pass by 1313 and leave the last of the door lamps behind.

Total darkness now, jungle all around me. I have stepped into the woods. From here there are about 25 yards of blackest night to traverse, feeling my way through the trees and underbrush. But the trail and I are old friends.

Beside me in the void something scampers. A rabbit perhaps, or a raccoon. It is too dark to see and he is gone so quickly. I press on, dodging the low limbs, gliding silently over the surface of the earth. Are my feet touching the ground? I think not. They would be making noise on this forest floor if they were.

Suddenly I am entwined. My face senses fragile fingers upon it, though my eyes see nothing. I stop and wipe the web from my mouth. He's been building in the middle of the freeway again.

Now through the blackness my peripheral vision reveals a gate. I have reached the pool area. I open it and walk through, clearing another spider web in the process. Trailing from my neck, it is the token I choose for my mission.

Around and between the pools I move, taking care to balance ever so precisely in that one spot where there is a sliver of concrete about as wide as a balance beam between the water and the trees. I raise my hand slightly and touch the oak's limb as I pass. It pulses with life. The heart of Mother Earth beats within.

A few more feet in the darkness and there will be another gate. Ah, there it is. I move toward it, my hand reaching for the handle. Once again my face is wrapped in the aspirations of an arachnid friend, my eyes completely swathed. This time I have disturbed my friend in the process. He alights on my head, then jumps to the ground.

I emerge from the treeline and open sky beckons above me. I look to the heavens. To the stars above.