The night was crisp and clear, the skies unobstructed by clouds, allowing the infinite stars above to shine their ethereal light down on those still walking the lowly earth. The traveler recognized a few of the larger constellations known to him, out of habit and with awe at the immensity of the heavens.
The carcass of a wild swine laid nearby, one he'd bagged a short while after the girl hastily left him outside Bree. For now, it was disregarded. The night was deepening, yet he did not wish to return to the safety within the town gates. He'd wandered the woods and came to an old abandoned graveyard. Jumping the crumbling stone fence, he kept company now with the silently departed.
The traveler reached into his battered rucksack and withdrew a nearly-empty pouch and a thin square of translucent paper. He folded the square in half, holding it between two fingers, and opened the pouch to dump the remains of his pipe-weed within. His fingers deftly rolled the paper back and forth, forming a long cylinder, before he brought it to his lips to seal with a lick. After twisting the ends, he again opened his rucksack and withdrew a flint-and-steel. Shortly, his lungs warmed and his thoughts drifted to memory.
He remembered a window, on the second story of a home, that had been left open after nightfall. Just the barest of light came from a lone candle placed on the sill, a singular flame dancing in the light breeze. It was a sign. A beckoning.
He was young then, and though he'd tasted some of the bitterness the world dealt, he had not yet known true despair. He still held hope, and life had promise. He had love. A lover, beautiful and charming.
The one who left the candle in the open window. For him.
And he would go to her this evening, as she'd wanted him to.
The traveler blew successive smoke-rings into the night air, where they quickly melted away as the wind took them. Lost to memory, he lingered long over bygone times before rousing himself to return to town, amongst the living, the hefty body of the dead boar slung over his shoulders.
He intended to locate the girl whom he offended earlier, and he knew precisely where his search for her should begin.
