And after a few minutes, the path opened up into a little meadow, where a small fire was sending orange and yellow sparks up into the night, and bodies crowded around it, swaying. I crept toward them, and no one seemed to notice me. There were about fifteen people, all young and stoned and gorgeous, and the air smelled like smoke and sage. Someone turned and looked right into my eyes, and then handed me the joint they were smoking.

“Go ahead,” he said kindly, and watched when I held it to my lips and breathed in the ashy heat of it. More people emerged from another path and joined the fire, and people from the fire left to go into the trees.

“Excuse me,” I said, to anyone who was listening. “I’m looking for my friend. Tuck. Does anyone know Tuck?”

Two people, a guy and a girl, turned toward me.

“He’s beating the drum,” the girl said.

“No, those are hammers,” the guy said.

They looked at each other and laughed, their beautiful faces lit up orange. The girl’s face was painted with splashes of color all along her cheeks and temples.

“Is he building something?” the guy asked.

“I definitely think that’s a drum,” the girl said.

Then more people came out of the trees, and with them was Tuck, no coat, his face painted with the same splotches of color.

“Oh my god!” he said, when he saw me. “This is amazing. How did you find me?” His eyes, what I could see of them, were pools of ink, irises swallowed up by huge black pupils. “Come on!” he said, and led me to the fire, where he lay down, so close to it, that I worried the soles of his shoes would melt. I watched tiny sparks leap from the fire and land on Tuck, one of them burning a hole in his sweater.

“What’s going on here?” I said.

“It’s like preparation for the solstice,” he said. “It’s a festival welcoming the dark.” He closed his eyes and grew quiet.

“Let me take you home to sleep,” I said.

“Not yet.”

The firelight swirled, the leaves made their respiratory sounds in the trees. Everyone laughed. Someone started to dance. The sky was full of stars, and then the moon went behind a cloud, which was sad and beautiful, and then it came out from behind the cloud, which was just as beautiful and just as sad.

I finally led Tuck back to the motel, through the cold streets, and he took a shower. I had to turn the water on and tell him to undress and get in. Then after ten minutes, I had to turn the water off and tell him to dry off.

“What exactly did you take tonight?” I asked him.