"The Silent Lord's love... It's really hard to accept."
Brilliant stars were embedded in the gray-blue twilight sky. Layers of white clouds, like a tide, were swept by a strong wind toward the far edges of the heavens. The bright moon's radiance cast a pale silver glow atop the clouds, while a golden dawn was slowly rising on the horizon.
A young man lay on the flat rock of a cliff, his arms pillowed behind his head. He gazed at the starlight in the gaps between the clouds overhead. The faint buzzing of insects' wings, like a nocturne, hummed by his ear, joined by the calls of distant birds beginning to stir.
On the young man's chest rested a small, red snake, coiled into a ball. It lay right over his heart, the warmest spot, where the vibrations were most distinct. The little snake comfortably enjoyed this rhythmic service, flicked its tail, and lazily answered his question:
