Under the canopy clearing was a beautiful, bold, and star feathered crane standing in the marsh waters, one foot craned just above the murky surface. Under the light of the moon, it stood so still that the water around its leg didn't ripple even slightly. It simply stood there, gazing up at the night sky, bathing in the moonshine light. It looked utterly relaxed, completely at peace. It didn't look like anything in the swamp could even disturb it. At least, that was until a buck came splashing into the water surrounding the crane.

It was the ripples that caused the water to hit the crane's leg that drew its attention, more so than the buck who fell into the water as if they'd just reached the finish line of a race. Craning its head, the bird looked toward the buck with what seemed to be a hint of annoyance. It was there that the face of the crane looked utterly moonstruck. There was a strong, crisp blue glow to the coming from the crane's eyes. Meeting with the buck's own eyes, the crane put its foot into the water and took a step. The crane fluttered its wings as if to say something and the buck shifted his weight backward into the muddy ground under the layer of water.

"Excuse me, please, I didn't mean to disturb you! I'm just afraid I am running late!" Ahead of Time stammered. Honestly, he didn't know why he was so apologetic to a bird. Perhaps it was the way it was looking at him or the way it lifted its wings into the sky as it approached that left an unsettling feeling.

It took a minute for Ahead of Time to think about the situation. It was just a crane, why was he so hesitant? It was only delaying him! He couldn't remain here just staring at a crane! He had a date! He finally shifted his weight up, standing out of the water with a weird sense of pride in himself.

The crane looked startled for a moment as Ahead of Time rose out of the water, standing tall enough to shadow the moon from the crane's view. Distressed, the crane took a step back until the moon rose above the buck's head once again. Excited, the crane began to flap his wings up and down with fervour, squawking elegantly as well as if it was saying something.

Ahead of Time looked distressed again, taking the crane's motions as an act of aggression. Why him? Why did he somehow get into a fight with a crane in the middle of the night as he was on his way to his date? Ahead of Time sighed, his eyes looking back and forth as if looking for a quick exit. Unless he wanted to take a swim and show up completely soaked, the only way by was right past the crane! There was only one way through this.

The buck approached the crane again.

"Uh... so... would you be able to move? I'm afraid there is a beautiful doe waiting for me. I don't want to keep her waiting."

He wasn't a very good fighter. What he lacked in strength, he made up for with reason. Always ahead, always on time. There were only two things he could count on! He wasn't about to let his pride, or a crane, make him late! Not tonight!

The words seemed to strike a chord with the crane. It moved, and as Ahead of Time made a motion to cross by, the crane jumped onto his flank!

"Oh help me, I'm being attacked!" Was the response Ahead of Time had, yelling into the darkness with much embarrassment but then... nothing happened. The crane just stood there, it's bright blue eyes staring at him. Ahead of Time's face just plead 'please not the face' as he stood there waiting for the inevitable.

Instead of attacking, the crane flapped its wings and bowed its head. A small, silent blessing under the light of the moon. Stargarden considered it a blessing that his Moon also supported. They just loved big families!

After a moment, the crane flew into the sky toward the moon and without much more thought, Ahead of Time raced to his date. Golly, he was in for a surprise!