I remember that it was a bright night. The full moon cast ghost-like shadows of leaves and palm branches onto the hard-packed sand and coral road. On any normal night of the year, I would not have ventured up there. The trees of the jungle were tall and dense and silent, and seemed to harbor everything in the way of nocturnal creatures that my ten-year-old mind could dream up.

The night, this cool and breezy night,
While in the vast unclouded sky
Stars stand lonely vigils, bright

The sea, the sea which rushes gently to the shore,
Reflects the starry light
Into the coral’s distant roar

The wind, this wind that softly stirs the trees,
Blows soundless ’cross the sand
On its journey o’re the seas

The sand, the sand which softly sinks beneath my feet,