Entry #119

Into The Night
by Cathi Stoler


She’d always loved the night. The velvety feel of it on her skin. The way it flowed over her like the softest cashmere shawl.

Tonight was no exception. The full moon cast its light past her shoulder, it’s glow igniting the mica imbedded in the sidewalk giving it the sparkle of diamonds waiting to be gathered up by the armful.

She walked along the quiet street in the moonlight’s path, her footsteps leaving a soft echo that trailed behind with each stride she took. Deeper and deeper she went into the night, absorbed in its delicious feel.

A flutter of wings from above caught her attention—a crow landing on the streetlight a few yards ahead. It tilted its head toward her, eyes bright in the light from the lamp, beak pointed downward as if to say, “Who are you and why are you here?”

She looked up, her head matching the angle of the bird’s exactly and smiled. “We can share it, you know,” she whispered as she passed by.

As if he’d understood—but didn’t like it—the bird cawed once and ruffled his feathers. Then he stretched his wings in a flowing arc, settled back and tucked his head down preparing for sleep.

She was laughing as the man came up and kissed her on the cheek.

“What’s so funny,” he asked, taking her arm.

“I think I just met someone who loves the night as much as I do.”


(Cathi Stoler was an award-winning advertising copywriter for many years. Wanting to fulfill her ambition to write full-length mystery novels, she turned her talents to this genre and wrote Keeping Secrets, a mystery/suspense story that delves into the subject of hidden identity. It was followed by, Telling Lies, which reprises several of her main characters and takes on the subject of stolen Nazi art. Both of these novels were named as finalists in the Brighid’s Fire Books fiction contest. Cathi is working on the third book in the series, The Hard Way. She is a member of the New York Chapter of Sisters in Crime and posts regularly on the womenofmystery.net blog. Cathi has studied both Italian and Glass Blowing, which she hopes to incorporate into future novels. She lives with her husband in Manhattan.)