The cold silence was broken with a sharp howl aimed at the moon. It was 10pm; everyone at home had relaxed, and the hot summer air had finally cooled down. Sabine stood by the door in my pyjama pants and shirt which were obviously a little big on her. “Shall we?” I asked. I open the door to the cool summer night air and slipped on my shoes. She stepped into hers. I grabbed her hand and intertwined our fingers. We strolled to the stairs and I stopped. I looked up at the dark clear sky. The stars were more visible than most nights and tiny specks of light decorated the sky. “The sky is so pretty,” I whisper.

“It really is.”

“I wish we had no cities, we could see the skies so clearly”

“That would be pretty nice.”

“Yeah.” We continue down the stairs and then along the sidewalk towards the large building. The bushes and flowers show a bit of deep red and dark green as the dim street lights flicker.

The silent night is disturbed as we both sit on a swing. The warm air blows in my face as I get higher and higher. I stare at the clear sky. We talk about life, the future, and our relationship. I fly through the air and land in the wood chips, I stumble to regain my balance. “You good?” Sabine asks.

“I’m good, don’t worry,” I laugh.

“Shall we head back?”

“If you want”

“Let’s go.” She hops off the swing much more gracefully than me. I pull her into an embrace, her head resting in my neck. Instead of letting go, I swing my arms under her legs and pick her up. “I love you,” I whisper. “You’re the best.”

Instead of responding she kisses my cheek. “Let’s go, you,” she giggles.

“M’lady.” And I start marching back to my house. After about 3 minutes I stop.

“I’ll walk on my own, it’s fine,” Sabine whispers. I lower her and let go, she stands next to me and I put out my hand. Our hands intertwine and we keep walking.

The street lights dimly light everything, the air is a gentle breeze, and the silence makes everything so calm. The only creatures around other than her and I are the bugs. We approach the stairs and I stop and point. “Shh, look over there,” I whisper. There in the middle of the street stands a coyote. It’s fur perfectly laying on it’s body, it tilts its head up and let out a long howl. The quiet air is broken. The howl was echoed back, coming from a nearby forest. It felt as though time had frozen. The coyote stared at us and I stared back, I couldn’t move my gaze. The wild animal had a certain beauty to it; wild creature in the middle of civilization. I felt so alive in that moment, there was a force of nature, Sabine, and I. Nothing else disturbing the moment. I wanted to stop time and just stay there to appreciate it’s beauty. Although I’d stay in that time for long, the coyote had other plans. It sat up and started to gently saunter away, its tail swaying back and forth as it disappeared up the hill towards the forest. And the silence of the night comes back. Sabine faces me, “It was so pretty,” she whispers.

“It was beautiful,” I respond

“That was a good end to our night.”

“It was, I wonder how many more there are.”

“Who knows.”

We continued back to my house in silence. What was wonderful is that despite not living like us animals had their own families and places they called home. I stand there staring at where the coyote was when I feel a tug on my arm, I look and see Sabine pulling me towards the stairs. I follow her and stride up the stair with her. We make it to my house and remove our shoes and step into the warmth of my house.

The sharp howl from the coyote and its beauty engraved itself in my mind. The peace in that moment was so calm and relaxing yet it gave me energy and I felt so present and alive. We are all children of mother nature and have a home on this earth, despite how much humans have ruined the world for wild animals. The coyote was a reminder of that.