The Light That Rode The Wind

Nelinia Mahogany Blue is studying film and photo flash focus record, working on her debut flick-a visual memoir exploring memory, distance, and the woman who raised her shadow-first. While working abroad in Paris, she finds herself caught between scenes, searching for light both behind and beyond the lens.

One evening, drawn by sound before sight, she wanders into a smoky venue tucked beneath the stars-Elysée Montmartre-and witnesses a performance that rewrites her rhythm. On stage stands Abisai Kahlil Hammond, a poet with a voice like velvet thunder and eyes that speak fluently in secrets. When he steps off the stage, he doesn't just thank her for coming-he takes a piece of her with him.

Their meeting is serendipitous, electric. What begins as admiration becomes collaboration, and what was meant to be a short Parisian chapter becomes a story that rewrites her script entirely. Together, they navigate language, longing, and what it means to be seen in full color.

But love, like film, is fragile in the wrong light. As Nelinia captures the beauty of other people's stories, she must decide if she's ready to be in her own frame-no edits, no cuts. In the city of light, can she hold on to the man who gave her voice a rhythm? Or is Paris just a poetic detour in her becoming?

CASSANDRA M. ALLEN
A NOVEL