Safety in Numbers

The sun is setting and the lake is still.
There are no other people around.
The bugs are becoming fierce,
coyotes howl, and loons unleash their murderous screams.
Bats swoop in off the lake;
I am at the mercy of the wild.

I find an odd comfort in the fact that this same scene
has unfolded for thousands of people before me.
For thousands of years before now.

Perhaps they were not seated
upon a 100% polyester folding chair.
Perhaps they were not scribbling
with a fine point pen upon a crumpled old receipt;
But they were here.

I can feel their spirits like wind howling through the trees,
their histories echoing like the crackle of the fire.
Their presence whispers that I am safe here.