Gone are the Sages

He sat on the edge of the low cliff that made up the shoreline. He stared deeply almost brooding into the yellows and oranges of the sunset that silhouetted the land in the distance. So lost in his thoughts he was that the lush green carpet of grass beneath his feet went unnoticed.

The young man's rumination was interrupted by the arrival of the brunette. The sea breeze teased her hair and the low hanging hems of her gossamer dress with a white kirtle beneath.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and he knew her touch though he never stopped looking at the horizon. "What is on your mind?" She asked with concern.

He answered, "The men, the old men whom I sat and talked with are far behind me now. They are few and fewer still are the young ones like us who want to sit and glean their storied wisdom. I guess they can't be blamed. We all thought we had more time."

"Time for what?" asked the maiden

"Everything," he said, placing such emphasis on the compound word that it almost sounded snappy, "There is business I left unfinished. Now the great unseen hourglass is counting down."

Silence reigned supreme in that space broken only by the lapping waves and seabirds.

"Yes, but something better will come about once the sands reach the bottom," the girl said.

"I know," said her male companion,"And I hold on to that, hope for it even. Nevertheless I still wished I had not seen the passing of the Sages."

Nothing else was said. The girl departed leaving him to stare into the sunset.