Sunset

A Great Blue Heron crossed the wide expanse of sky.  Its long legs trailed behind while its neck, folded ever so eloquently, rested neatly on its back.  She watched its uninterrupted flight until it was out of sight.  She had always marveled at the heron, pondering if it was a distant relative of a pterodactyl.

She had come to this place to watch the sun set.  Something she had not seen in a long time.  She was not to see it this time either as a large bank of clouds rose up in the far western sky.  There were no other clouds in the sky, just those and they were in the way.  It did not matter, the sound of absolutely nothing surrounded her and there was much solace to find in that quietness.

She decided to watch the sunset anyway.  It was a wise choice.  Although the giant glowing ball of gas could not be seen, it began to paint a picture on the back of the canvas of clouds and the colors started to bleed through the mist.  For the most part, the cloud bank throbbed with a dull shade of orange.  But, as the earth turned away from the sun, the orange began to brighten.  As this happened, the edges of the clouds seemed to come alive.  They shimmered with nearly the white light of electricity.  It looked as though molten silver was flowing around each cloud.  It may not have had all the colors she had hoped for, but the pulsing silver lining had her full attention.  It was almost mesmerizing.  Perhaps a cloud with a silver lining was what she was meant to see.  

The sun continued its descent and the orange hues and silver lining were no longer visible.  Just a big cloud bank in the western sky.  She scanned the rest of the empty sky to see if any stars or planets were visible.  None that she could see.  Just lots of open endless sky.  She knew if she sat there long enough, she would see them, but there was something so comforting about that huge sky.  It seemed to speak to her.  Her.  One tiny person in the vastness of the universe was made to feel like she belonged.  She belonged to something that perhaps she could not see right now, but it was big and it was powerful and it was full of love.  It was full of hope and full of promise and it seemed to endow these things to her.  But, the message she received told her she already had all these things and more, she had simply forgotten about them.  The things of the world had been in the way, trying to turn her into one of its wanton slaves.  That made sense to her.  She had not touched her phone in days, nor did she miss it and it felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted without it.  

She stood up and walked back down the path she had taken to reach this natural seat in natures' amphitheater.  A new found confidence followed closely behind.