By Phoenix

The small campfire burned brightly in the secluded clearing in a forest out side of small Louisiana town. The pine trees that surrounded the area were huge with their limbs swaying in the breeze. The moon, visible through the clearing, was full and shone brightly in the darkened sky. There were patches of various wild flowers throughout the forest floor. The colors of melted together in the dark, making it hard to see the different colors. The grass that covered the ground was a mixture of dark and clover green. There was a lone figure in the middle of it all.

She was clad in a dark crimson robe. It billowed about her small form as the wind kicked up around her. The silver of the intricate stitching on the cuffs reflected off of the fire’s flames. The stitching was made up of designs meant for protection during these times. Her unbound hair flew about her. It too reflected off of the flames, giving her the appearance of a faerie. Her feet were bare. Her toes stretched themselves in the grass.

The Lady stood in front of the flames, watching them flicker. She loved performing rites on nights like these. She could feel the energy in the air and in her blood. She knew that in the morning she was going to be wired. Her friends always wondered what happened to her to cause such a genuine happiness. They of course did not know of her midnight rituals that were performed on a regular basis in the middle of no-where.

She was leading different lives and loved all of them with a passion that she didn’t know even existed till she started with the Craft. From daughter to sister, then from sister to student, then on to friend and then there was Lady. She liked being Lady the most. She was free and herself completely. She didn’t feel awkward with the body that she had. In fact she had learned to love it, using it any way she knew how. She had a greater confidence. That was carried into her other lives. Many had noticed that change. How she would walk a little bit taller. Look a person in the eyes when she spoke with them. Answer questions without feeling nervous as to whether it was wrong or right.

So there she stood, staring into the flames of the small fire before her. She went about casting her circle, calling her corners, and asking for the Goddess and God to join her on that beautiful night. She could feel the now familiar surge of energy run through her veins and she breathed a sigh of relief that she had been heard, and welcomed into their world. She went about the ritual without stumbling over her carefully written words and prayers. Prayers that she had put together over the course of a week. These prayers meant the world to her and they were all memorized precisely.

After the ceremony was over she closed her corners and bid farewell to the Goddess and God. When that was completed, Lady carefully put out the fire. That done she could go home and get some sleep before having to have to get up at 5:30 in the morning for classes. She glanced at her watch that was sitting next to her cloak, it was already 1:30 and it would be well after 2:00 before she got home. She quickly fastened her cloak about her shoulders to keep the cool October, now November wind out. She donned her shoes and grabbed her car keys and raced off through the woods. Leaving the dying embers of the fire the only evidence that someone had been there that night.