Dawn's Spectacle

• Jasmin Pradhan, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2018

The jet black sky was covered with scintillating diamonds. Clouds were strewn across the inky expanse as if they were spilled out of a paint tin. They swirled on the breeze, heavy and ready to burst.

Then the spectacle began. Night extended a fading hand to his sister and bowed before her as his strength began to diminish and hers grew. Before Night slowly shed his jeweled skin, he breathed down on the earth and covered the grass with a light frost that sparkled like gems, as a reminder to the humans that he'd been there.

The glow of the shining stars dimmed as Dawn leisurely raised the mighty sun before extending her fingers and brushing the undersides of the dense clouds, staining them with amber, rose, violet and gold.

At that moment, the clouds decided that they couldn't hold on. Their pearly drops blessed the earth, dancing on the roofs and bouncing on the trees’ leaves before sliding down to kiss the petals of the nearby geraniums.

The sunlight suddenly stepped forward and made itself known, streaming through and breaking up the clouds, rebounding off the bright dew which caused the plants and roses to glimmer. The cheerful rays seeped through the shadows, dissolving them into nothingness and bathing the world in a soft, golden blanket of warmth.

Dawn poured the first weak rays of sunshine over the suburb, letting them leak in through gaps in the curtains as she searched for her friend; The only person in the entire town who was always awake to see her spectacle. It wasn't hard to find her. The tween sat perched on her window seat with a silky blanket draped over her legs and pulled tightly around her. Her window was wide open and her curtains were pulled far apart. Her room embraced the sunbeams as they spilled in and Dawn smiled down on the girl, warming her face. She blew a soft breeze toward the girl that tickled her neck and ruffled her short, chestnut hair.

The girl, Victoria, smiled out at the stunning array of colours that splashed across the cerulean sky. Dawn’s spectacle seemed to get increasingly splendid every day. She cast her sapphire eyes down to her sketchpad where the sky’s beauty spilled across the page in shades of fiery orange mingled with pale pink and the striking colour of daffodils, blended together with ocean blue and snowy white to create a drawing perhaps more beautiful than the sunrise itself.

Victoria delicately shaded in the last part of her white paper and nodded, satisfied. This wasn't any ordinary sunrise though. It was one that marked the beginning of an unbelievable day for Victoria, if she had only known it. Dawn was pleased with Victoria's work too. Kissing Victoria’s face and only adding to the freckles that played across her nose, Dawn turned and let her friend, Day, take over, silently vowing to return tomorrow to see Victoria's next sketch.