It was her first sunset. All on her own. She dipped her brush and set its tip against the sky. She painted a fiery glow behind slate-grey clouds, lining their edges with light. Beneath the clouds, she then hung the glowing orb of the sun in all its bittersweet dragonfire, drawing it lower and brighter with all the delicacy of a single hair. Its glow spread like a flower opening its petals against the ever-darkening clouds that blanketed above.

It was slow yet quick work, the splendor only there for a few moments but the painting of its descent painstaking and detailed nevertheless. Finally, all that remained of the light were amaranthine clouds, their undersides touched with pearly pink, the golden glory now replaced with an amberesque awe.

The sun drawn down, the air turning blue with night cool, she lifted her brush away. The deed was done, the masterpiece painted. She just hoped that, maybe, someone had been watching. Maybe someone had enjoyed her work. Her first sunset.

= =

While the resplendence of the light still warmed the flush of her cheeks, the pictures flew from her phone like rapid fire. Pictures of this glorious sunset witnessed from where she had sat on the hood of her car, letting the evening deepen and cool around her. The groceries could wait. This had been more important and definitely more beautiful.