“The Rocky Shrine” from “Lucinda”

“When Lucinda finally opened her eyes, it was deep night. The stars overhead shone multitudinous. There were so many that they resembled snowflakes of varying size and brilliance raining down onto the mountains, almost as if a cosmic snow globe had been shaken and its contents left to settle. In the center of the sky, an empurpled cluster of stars looked like a spinal column supporting the entire heavens. The tallest peak in the distance glowed like a gigantic inlaid diamond. Lucinda noticed that she was not in the least bit cold, although, by all rights, she ought to have been. Not only did the rocks surrounding her block out the wind, they also, by some mysterious process, generated heat. She looked at them now and saw that the natural inscriptions she had noticed earlier were glowing bright. Sanskrit words, formed by the boulder’s numerous cracks, gleamed like living eyes, conveying a message to her.”