Sitting Alone In The Moonlight-A Chilling Serenade

2:00 A.M. and the moon hangs low in the western sky, shining through thin clouds and tree branches, bathing the countryside in an eerie glow.  Far from any major road, total silence hangs in the air like a heavy blanket. Wildlife, game wardens, and poachers rule the night in the remote Pennsylvania wilderness.

The old man sits alone in the moonlight, his thoughts wandering back over the years.  Long ago when he was a young game warden, such times were spent anticipating what the future might hold in store, and he felt a longing for exciting action, but now many years worth of memories keep him company, and he no longer feels the need for adventure. He would rather be home sleeping, but he is here because of wildlife criminals that roam the backcountry roads, locating deer with spotlights, shooting them with small caliber rifles, and letting the animals to lie and rot.

Suddenly the silence is broken by the shrill barking of a fox and the wild, wailing voice of a coyote joins in- creating a harmony that makes the chills run down the spine. No music on earth can sound better.

The poachers do not come this night, but the old man will never forget the wildness of that moment in the moonlight when the fox and coyote made the hills and hollows ring with their chilling serenade.