Goodbye - A River of Stones

I said goodbye to my best friend in a pink dawn, feeling the usual tight throat as she drove away. Inside, I busied myself in the quiet kitchen. Standing at the sink, I saw movement where the trail opens to my back yard. Thinking maybe a deer or a moose was visiting, I came to attention. A cowboy  - black hat, black boots, black jacket, and dark pack - strode into the clearing. I blinked but, yes, a cowboy! As he turned to walk the perimeter of my property, he looked up and our eyes met. His were the pale blue of a morning sky. I knew he saw me framed in the kitchen window, faded fleece PJ's drooping around my shoulders, white hair sticking up like dandelion fuzz.  He immediately lowered his eyes back to the trail, moving quickly away through the pine duff. I shivered as he disappeared. My friend and the cowboy both left me as daybreak seeped slowly over the mountains.

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