White Nights

Midnight dusk with no sun in it and no darkness either: a pink-lilac glow low above the horizon, meadows and dark spruces on the far bank, and a river so still that it works as a mirror.

The church is northern, wooden, tented, with a shingled cupola — the type that stood along the northern rivers for centuries, not a particular church. It is reflected whole, and the reflection is calmer than the silhouette itself.

The walker sits on the edge of a plank walkway, feet hanging over the water — the same man as in the rest of the series. On a white night there is nowhere to hurry.