This is my first entry for the SciFi Smackdown Four Hope you enjoy--

To The Edges

It was afternoon, although you would have never known if not for the precise ticking of Goliath’s large-faced watch beside her. The sky was overcast, as if the clouds had come to a consensus to keep the sun away. It didn’t matter, the air sat heavy on the moist cobblestoned street. Moisture slowly crept up the hem of her cape as he guided her on her walk, quiet except for the ticking, and occasional creek of the chains on the storefronts.

The city was dead.

Melanie sighed.

It came out so soft, she did not realize it had escaped. The darkness was nothing new, it was all she had ever known. The lack of life so late in the day was normal. The city did not wake until the sun left the dismal sky—the nocturnal inhabitants would then swarm the streets, released from their homes with an energy attuned to mischief and destruction. Long ago, the city was one of happiness and warmth—a town of day dwellers. It was as if without the sun, the city had no soul.

Another small sigh escaped between Melanie’s lips as her subconscious rifled through hidden thoughts of long ago, as the raven-haired girl scrubbed floors of the brothel.

Not anymore.

In an effort of self-preservation, her soul withdrew to the back of her mind. Now, she woke, walked and worked all before bed. Melanie huffed and smirked to herself. Bed she thought, that’s a good one. At least she got to sleep somewhere she wasn’t forced to turn her trade. The small things. They’re the only things we got.

Goliath’s watch gave a little chime, and with word, the odd couple turned back where they came. He had been her guard for the past few years as a condition for her walks. Pierre insisted upon it when Melanie pushed for time outside the house.

***

She walked up to his ornate red and gold door, pushing her nerves down. Reaching out to the caller, she pressed a button until it clicked.

“Yes?” she heard his oily voice through the horn above her. Taking a deep breath she leaned forward and spoke.

“Pierre, it is Melanie. May I come it?” She leaned back as the golden gears on the door begin to spin in response to an unforeseen command. One after another, they came to a stop, and the door seamlessly swung inward. She stepped in, as it closed behind her with a small click. “Paranoid, boss?” she asked. Melanie approached the large mahogany desk where Pierre sat. For added affect, she cocked her hip out to the side, knowing the silk of her robe would cling in all the right places. She needed the upper hand here. He might have been in the business longer than her, but Pierre was still a man, and men had a tendency to be distracted by sex. 

Her boss lifted his pale eyes up from the ledger in front of him and removed his monocle. He looked like anyone else in this wretched town—pale hair, pale skin, pale eyes. In every way she was their opposite. Her hair was so dark it was almost black, eyes so green they stopped people in their tracks, and skin that could be described as honey-kissed although no one had seen the sun in lifetimes. It was why she was his most popular girl, brought in the most money, had privileges no other girl had. It was why she could stand here now without being completely consumed in fear. Like all city dwellers, Pierre was a ruthless man. He considered himself their savior and their god. He bought them out of hell and could return them there on a whim.

Melaniescoffed at the thought. If Pierre heard it, he gave no indication. Instead, he stared intensely into those dark eyes. The corner of Melanie’s mouth tipped upwards. Having trouble, boss? Can’t look anywhere else?

He indicated towards a chair with his hand. Melanie reluctantly gave up the high ground in hopes of a compromise. She could always stand again if needed. Hell, she could sit on his desk. She was a prostitute, after all. No one expected her to have manners, least of all Pierre.

He folded his thin, blue-tinted hands over on top of his desk, “What can I do for you, Melanie?”

The way he talked made the simplest of phrases sound as if they were drenched in mire. If he thought she was going to jump into his bed, he was sadly mistaken. She had been there before, they all had.

“I am afraid my skin is growing too pale.”

Pierre laughed. No matter how many times Melanie heard it, she still repressed the urge to shudder. She waited until he was finished. “Melanie,” he said, leaning towards the girl, “what in the dark makes you think you are growing pale? You have the most color of any girl in the four cities. It is the reason your card is full each night. They can’t get enough of it.”

“That is why I am concerned.” I said with feigned emotion. “If I lose my appeal, you lose your silver. Neither of us want that to happen, do we?”

Pierre’s eyes narrowed, “What did you have in mind?”

“I would like to go outside each day, before the customers arrive.”

“Absolutely not.”

Melanie jumped in before his mind was made up. “Each day, two hours, I can take a walk and it would be great for business. You could even send other girls with me. Free advertisements for the house.” That got him. Melanie saw a spark light behind his eye.

“Five days, thirty minutes.”

“Seven, two hours, and I take a girl four of them.”

“Five, one hour, and you take a girl whenever I damn well please.”

“Seven, and you’ve got a deal.”

He laughed again, “A deal? Melanie, you have nothing to give me. I own you. But you can have your seven, if you take Goliath.”

Melanie blanched, recovered and stood. Goliath was Pierre’s henchman. He had blood on his hands, though none of hers, yet. She was willing to take the shark if it meant she could go. Plus, he’d hate it. “Deal,” she reached out her hand to Pierre who caressed it in return.

“The pleasure is mine, as always.”

Melanie waited for the mechanical door to open, urging herself to be still as she felt pale eyes take her in until it shut behind her.

***

Goliath waited for her to step in front of him then picked up his feet to follow. The giant of a man hated her almost as much as he hated devoting an hour of his day to walking up and down the city streets before the sun had sunk. It made Melanie smile to push this small torture.

They were almost back to the house when Melanie caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye. It was gone as quick as it came. Her steps faltered, and Goliath wordlessly reached up and grabbed her above her elbow, giving her a firm push forward.

Melanie turned her head, holding her hood back to glare at him. Rounding the corner blindly, she ran straight into the brown man.

She stumbled back, trying to keep her feet on the slick street, when four hands grabbed for her. Goliath caught her back and the stranger grabbed for her arms, stopping her momentum, and causing her hood to fall. The stranger gasped, “Melanie?” His brown top hat sat snug over a leather cap on his head. She had never seen so much color in the town before. Her jaw fell slack when her dark eyes met his own.

They were a bright, solid, luminescent green.

Before she could answer, Goliath righted her and stepped between them, causing the brown man to lose his grip.

“If you want to see Melanie, you can come by the house tonight,” as if he was not intimidating enough in size, he pushed back his coat, flashing his sleek clockwork gun. He showed it off at every opportunity. Normally, Melanie would have rolled her eyes at such a display, but she was preoccupied with the brown man and his startling green eyes.

Without ever taking his gaze off the girl, the strange man nodded once and stepped around them. Melanie followed him as he continued down the street, a spot of color in a dismal world.

Goliath gripped her elbow and kept it the final blocks to the home. Melanie silently waited for the man to release her, and plodded to her room with thoughts of the brown man fleeing from her mind with every step. It was time for work.

 ***

Melanie sat on the edge of the bed, mentally calculating the time. There were no large clocks in her workroom, only in her personal space. Although the two were connected, she refused to disengage the locks and step through the door until she had showered in the morning. She would not take work home with her, even if home was only a room away.

It had to be halfway through the night, at least. She had seen four men already, and all had fumbled their way through the hour they paid for. The regulars did not show until later. Her brain was ticking through the customers—she usually saw eight a shift. She was a lucky one. Can’t use up your prize horse, she had heard Pierre say one night when one man complained of her card being full so early. He directed the gentleman to another girl. One who easily saw twice the number of patrons as Melanie. Girls were a profitable commodity. They could be sold a countless number of times.

Melanie heard the gears of her door clicking as someone inserted their token card. She stood, brushing off her robe, and walked to the banister for a glass of water. Pressing the lever, the machine began to fill her cup. She heard the door click closed.

“Good evening,” the male voice spoke from behind her.

“Good evening,” she replied, turning off the machine and removing her glass. She turned to the customer only to drop the glass.

It was the brown man.

He took two steps and was across the room, picking up the glass and returning it to the sideboard. Melanie grabbed for a towel and began frantically mopping up the water from her robe. After a few moments, she regained her composure. She was acting like a rookie. Mentally scolding herself, she sat down the towel.

“Sorry, I was overreacting. We don’t even need this, do we?” she reached for her belt, and his hand reached out to stop her. She looked up at him, confused.

“Let me take care of that,” he said. Melanie slowly dropped her arms as the man knelt in front of her. He reached up under her robe, and Melanie looked down when she saw a faint, red light coming from something in his hand. He was holding it over the wet spot, which was shrinking by the second.

“What are you doing down there?” she asked. It came out in jest, but on the inside she was thoroughly confused. Who is this man and what is he doing?

The metal device in his hand beeped, and the water was gone. “There,” he said. “That’s better.” looking up, he noticed the look on Melanie’s face and turned the color of his little machine. He stood quickly and turned towards the wall.

Melanie let out a husky laugh. “Been a while since I saw someone blush,” she teased. “It’s ok if you’re a newbie. You’ll do fine. Might not get your hour in, but not everybody does. Nothing to be ashamed of.”

The brown man turned, his face returned to its normal state. “Not that it matters, but I am not a newbie. I am also not here for sex.”

Melanie cocked an eyebrow. “Then why are you here?”

“I am here to take you home.”

It was one of those moments where everything froze. Feelings and emotions rushed Melanie in such a way that everything slowed down. She tasted each one,

Disbelief.

Hope.

Nausea.

Thankfulness.

Anger.

They spun through Melanie in the time it took the brown man to blink his impossibly green eyes. Only then she noticed they were framed by circular spectacles that dimmed their shade. She hated to tell him they didn’t help.

She plopped back on the bed, narrowing her gaze. “Give that to me again?” she said, gesturing with her hand.

Pulling his hat off his head, he clutched it in front of him. “I am here to take you home, Melanie.”

Realization dawned on her. She nodded her head in understanding and headed for the bell on the door that would summon Goliath. “I’m sorry, sir, but marriage proposals are strictly forbidden. Most at least wait until the end to offer. Besides, you’re the third I’ve had tonight. I’m not interested.”

The brown man stepped over to her and stilled her hand, pushing it down. He was taller than her, a wide frame covered billowy white shirt under his smart coat and vest. He looked down at her, a soft smile on his lips. “I am not proposing marriage, Melanie. Just an escape.”

“Talk like that could get you killed here.”

“My life means nothing if lived for myself.”

Melanie’s eyebrows pinched together, “You’re strange.”

He laughed, “Will you give me my hour? I want nothing from you but conversation.”

She sighed. “Fine,” she said walking back to the bed. Smoothing out her clothes, she noticed a pale powder on her hand where his fingers had been. She rubbed at it, and it disappeared before her eyes. She looked at him in question.

“I am dark-skinned like you. It draws too much attention combined with my eyes. I prefer to stay in the background, so I cover what I can.” The brown man must have interpreted the look on her face because he asked her what she was thinking.

“You are a strange man,” she answered.

He smiled in reply, “You’ve already said that.”

“Doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” She said as he sat himself down in a lonesome chair.

“Let me try and clarify, then. My name is Joshua.” He leaned forward and held out his hand. Almost instinctively, Melanie crawled across the bed to reach it. She did not even notice her posturing until she saw his eyes round at the sight of her. Quickly, she adjusted herself so that she sat on the foot of the bed.

“Sorry about that.”

“No bother,” he said, scratching at his leather cap. “Every now and then something of the city unhinges me a bit. You seem to be one of those things.”

“And you don’t care for a dip?” she asked, playfully, and dropped her eyes. “Sorry, second nature when I’m working.”

“It must be hard for you. This life.”

You have no idea. “Not really. Could be worse.”

“Could be better,” he countered.

“Yes, you’ve said that. You want to take me home. A pretty little place with a white porch and wooden shutters? Full of candy and rainbows?”

It was his turn to let out a small laugh, “Not exactly.”

For some reason the levelheaded Melanie’s temper rose at his response. “Well, it can’t be any fun. You don’t even have sex. I of all people know how much men love sex.”

The smile disappeared from Joshua’s face. “We have sex. Sex is great.”

She tilted her head to the side, “Then why aren’t we having it?”

He scratched his head again. “Where I am from, we wait until unions for sex. One partner until death.”

Unbelievable, thought Melanie. “That is…” she was about to say ridiculous but then her mind was bombarded by thoughts. Men day in and day out. Some unioned, some not. All here for the same thing. She changed her mind. “That is honorable.” She took a breath, “You’re not from the city.”

“I’m not. We’re not.” he stressed, reaching up for his head again.

“You can take that thing off, you know.”

“Oh, right, well, I guess I can.” He slid the leather cap off his head, unleashing thick locks of hair, running his fingers along his scalp and making it stand on end. It was hair so dark, it was almost black. Hair Melanie had only seen in the mirror.

“Wha? I mean…” she stared at him, dumbstruck.

“We are from the same place, Melanie. I told you, I have come to take you home.” The bell above the door let out a small ring. Joshua stood. “I will come back tomorrow, same time. I will tell you more. I do not think I have to tell you to keep this secret.” Melanie shook her head once, and Joshua stood, gathering his coat and hat and donning his disguise once more. He almost passed as a city dweller. Almost.

He reached for the door, disengaging it with the push of a lever. “See you tomorrow, then.”

“Yes, good night.” She replied, her stomach dropping as she watched her only source of light walk out the door.

Melanie finished her work distracted that night, before showering and finally withdrawing to her room. Through the heavily draped window, she could just see the beginnings of another cloudy day peeking over the horizon. The black, stoned streets of the city were barely illuminated by the weak rays of sun. Evidence of the destruction of the night before littered them. To her left, Melanie could see a man draped from an old store sign, what little remaining of his life dripping onto the stones below before the metal guards unfolded across her window automatically.

She had seen it all before, however for the first time in years, it caused her stomach to turn. Anywhere had to be better than here. Long ago, she had given up hope of ever getting out. Now though, she could feel it inside of her. It was like the sun—hidden, barely noticeable, but there, peeking through the mess that barred it from shining bright.

And it scared the hell out of her.

 ***

He returned just as he said he would. For the next four nights, Joshua came back, each time bringing something to aid in her escape. A cap under which she would hide her dark locks, a black coat, a top hat similar to the one he himself wore, trousers, a shirtwaist, and powder for her skin. As the pieces came together, Melanie realized that she was going to look eerily like a city dweller for the first time in her life. Joshua confirmed her suspicions when he gave her the accessories.

“It’s the most popular carry nowadays,” he said as he handed her a small pistol. It was bronze with a slight sheen to it, a small gear on the outside next the hammer. “I saw your guard carrying a larger version of it when I bumped into you on your walk. Most likely, you will not have to use it. It is really only for looks. You would stand out like a sore thumb if you didn’t carry it. And here.” He handed her a small, browned sphere. She looked up at him with uncertainty. “It’s an extinguisher. It is for emergencies only. But, just to be safe, don’t drop it.”

“What does it do?” she asked.

He shook his head, causing hair to spill in his eyes. “Well,” he started. “Just use it if you have no other choice. Ok? Then make sure you are out of the way.”

Melanie took it, and carefully wrapped it in a towel before putting it with her other things. Tomorrow night, she thought, we’re gone tomorrow night. Her stomach did flips. Emotions had flooded her.

And now it was here.

Joshua had arrived with the last of her disguise—a pair of glasses, much like his own, but with translucent green lenses. He was her eighth patron of the night, her last. As soon as he walked in, they began the transformation from dark prostitute to monochrome city dweller.

As Joshua assisted Melanie in lacing her boots, they went over the plan of escape again. It was a simple one. Joshua assured her they worked best.

“After you get out, then?”

“I start on my walking route, and wait for you to catch up.” She replied in rote. They had been through it so many times in the past week she was dreaming about it during the day. “Casual. Careful. Just walk.”

“The key is not to draw any attention. But if you think about it too much…”

“Then that’s exactly what I’ll do,” she finished for him.

Joshua smiled at her. He grabbed the powder and began to liberally apply it to her face. “You will do fine. They won’t even notice you’re gone until it’s too late.”

Melanie kept silent while he applied the make up to her face and down her neck, covering any patch of skin that showed. He had paid for six visits in all, and this was the most contact they had had in all of the combined. She let out a small chuckle. Joshua stopped, “What is it, Melanie?”

She shook her head quickly, “Nothing. Just thinking.”

He put the cap on the canister of powder, and stood, wiping his hands on his trousers. “All done. Take a look at yourself. You’re a regular city dweller.”

She did, and gasped. “I don’t even recognize myself.”

Joshua laughed, “That’s the point. Now get your coat.” The bell signaling the end of the hour chimed right on time. “Are you ready?”

“Does it matter?” she replied, shrugging on the heavy coat and buckling her belt. She adjusted everything so that it sat comfortably. Under the flaps of her coat, the pistol and extinguisher sat comfortably, suspended by black leather straps on her belt. She was ready. Most of her, at least. The rest was just scared.

Joshua stepped towards her, running both his hands down her arms and grabbing her own artificially pale hands. “You’re going to do great. Everything is going to be alright. Freedom is within your grasp. All you have to do is take it. Do you want out of this darkness?”

She stared into his impossibly green eyes, made even more obvious by the pale paint on his face. His hands were warm, his promises sweet. So sweet—almost too good to be true. But what do you have to lose? she thought. Not a single thing.

“I’m ready. Let’s go.” Joshua smiled again, giving her hands a reassuring squeeze. Melanie stepped towards the entryway, pulling the thick-rimmed goggles over her face and reaching to disengage the door. She stopped.

A small click, and the locks on the door started churning. The door opened, and a man dressed in black entered, taking off his hat, and shaking out his pale hair before smoothing it out atop his head.

Melanie felt Joshua step up, pushing her behind him. “Excuse us, Sir. We did not hear the bell. Melanie stepped into her room momentarily. I am sure she will be out shortly.” He nodded to the city dweller and stepped out the door, Melanie following close behind.

Walking as fast as they could without drawing too much attention to themselves, Melanie and Joshua turned down the hall, took the steps and landed themselves in the dissipating crowd in the room below without incidence. Busy paying tabs, stacking chairs, dragging drunks to the street, the workers paid no mind to the two men leaving the brothel.

They reached the door when Melanie’s heart finally faltered.

Outside, engaged in a somewhat heated discussion with a supplier, was none other than Pierre.

And he was headed straight for them.

Joshua stepped to his right, holding the door open for the two men. Pierre examined him and began to look away when Melanie caught his eye. Seconds stretched into hours as Pierre took in her ensemble from head to toe and back again eventually dismissing her without a word. She let out the breath she did not realize she had been holding. Joshua walked out the door.

Melanie began to follow when a loud thundering inside the building startled her. It was Goliath.

“Boss, she’s gone, boss!” he yelled, running down the steps.

Pierre looked at his manservant, annoyance smeared across his face. “What are you talking about, Goliath?”

“Melanie! She’s gone!”

Joshua reached back into the building and pulled her out the door. “Come on,” he hissed at her. “Remember, calm.”

She nodded once, and they began to walk down the street as if they were on a morning stroll. They only had a short distance to go. Their escape route concluded four city blocks down on top of an old building where Joshua had a flying machine waiting. He assured her that flying was the quickest method of escape, and no matter how unsure she might be, she trusted this brown man.

A block up, they heard the door of the house slamming from behind them. Joshua tapped Melanie’s elbow and slightly increased their speed.

“Hey! Sir!” A voice behind them yelled in their direction, footsteps fast approaching.

Joshua pushed her elbow ahead of him. “Go Melanie, I will catch up.”

Before she could answer, he had already turned towards the man. It was not Pierre, or Goliath, but one of his lackeys. Melanie continued down the street, straining her ears to listen.

“Sir, we have lost one of the girls from Pierre’s house… Wait a second,” he said pointing a thin finger in Joshua’s direction. “You’re that man. The one who’s been coming to see her. Where’s Melanie?” The lackey turned, cupping his hands around his mouth, “Goliath!” He didn’t finish. Joshua turned back to Melanie, pushing his heavy coat aside and holstering his gun in one smooth motion. Seeing Melanie standing there, he picked up his pace, grabbing her hand as he passed.

“We must hurry. Forget careful. Run.”

And they did. They ran down the black, slick streets of the city with the blockaded sun until they reached the house with the flying machine. Flicking open the door, Joshua pushed Melanie through ahead of him.

“Go, I will catch up. Start the machine. There is a lever beside the wheel. Press it. If they come through the door before I do, release the break and hold straight until it starts to sputter. It is wound; it will get you where you need to be. They will find you. They will take you home. Tell them what happened. Go!”

“Joshua, no. Come with me. I can’t do this without you.” Melanie pulled on his coat sleeve in the direction of the stairs.

“Melanie,” he said, calmly. “My life is worth nothing unless I give it for others. You are worth this. Never forget that.” He kissed her lips, quickly and released, smiling. “Now go,” without waiting for her to respond, he pushed her to the stairs. She ran. Flight after flight, not knowing where she was going or how. Suddenly, she stopped. She was standing on a dirty landing, the sound of footsteps below growing louder as the seconds passed.

Without much thought, she reached down to her pistol. Undoing it’s binding, she released it from her belt. Next, she released the extinguisher. Opening the door of the landing, she stepped in and waited.

Goliath was the first up the stairs. Without hesitation, Melanie stepped out of the doorway. She saw the pale giant smile wickedly as her steady hand raised the pistol, and with a single shot, put a bullet through his head. He silently fell backwards, knocking into the men behind him, blocking their way. Melanie took off up the next landing. Reaching the top, she knelt and rolled the extinguisher down the stairs.

She did not wait to see what happened. Instead, she made her way quickly up the remaining stairs as an explosion echoed below. Hurriedly, she stepped up into the boxy flying machine, and with a prayer to whoever would listen, pushed down on what she hoped was the starting lever.

It was.

The shining blades on top of the machine started to spin, blocking out all other noise. She felt the machine wobble once, twice, then it was off the building, shooting up in need of a direction. Melanie was caught off guard when the machine spun, pushing her back in her cold chair and started forward.

He was right, she thought. It was easy. Then she burst into tears.

 ***

Hours, days, Melanie did not know how long, but eventually the machine sputtered. She thought she must have been dreaming, hallucinating even, as exhausted as she was. Suddenly, it did it again and began a slow descent towards the ground.

Melanie barely had time to register a bleak, solid brown landscape before frantically scrambling for the starting lever. She flicked it back and forth with no results. He hadn’t taught her how to land. She laughed. Figures. Her world went dark as the flying machine hit the ground.

 ***

“That’s her!” a male voice pried its way through the fogginess of her consciousness. Everything was black. It was as if she was trapped in the city. No light. No escape. She groaned. She was so tired.

“Melanie, open your eyes.” The voice was familiar, and she so badly wanted to do as it asked. She just couldn’t remember how. She let out a small sound. The blackness took her prisoner again.

 ***

“Melanie?”

This time, her eyes obeyed. They opened only to be taken from landscapes of black to ones of brown. Her mind barely had time to register the similarities of the two before she was overtaken by their stark differences. Everything around her was brown—the bench she was laying on, the pillars of rocks that shot miles above her head, the ground that stretched for miles until it was consumed by the dark sky, the man across from her…

The brown man…

Melanie began to sit up when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked up into a pair of impossibly green eyes surrounded by fading yellow bruises.

“Joshua?” He smiled, causing one eye to close completely. It was the sweetest smile Melanie had ever seen. “But, I thought you were dead? I left you there. I blew up the building. You were in it. How?”

He reached over and wiped tears off her cheek. “I have a few tricks up my sleeve.” He replied, and wrapping his arms behind her shoulders, helped her sit up.

“But, how? What…”

“Shhh, Melanie. In good time.” He squeezed beside her on the bench, supporting most of her weight. “I know you have questions, but I didn’t want you to miss it. We are almost here.”

“Where is here?

“This is here,” Joshua reached up and pulled the carriage open. “Welcome home, Melanie.”

She looked up to see a solid brown mountain of sculpted rock that went higher into the dark sky than any of the buildings of the city ever dreamed. Despite its overwhelming height, immediately Melanie felt at peace. They came to a stop in front of two large pieces of smooth rock with drawings scrawled across the front of them. Melanie immediately knew they were words.

“What does it say?” she asked.

Without looking, and without hesitation, Joshua replied,

“He has given orders to the morning 

He has shown dawn its place.

That it might take earth by its edges

to shake the wicked out." 

“Who is he?”

A small smile crossed Joshua’s lips. “You have a lot to learn, Melanie.”

She turned her head, barely wincing at the soreness kinked in her muscles. “Will you teach me?” she asked.

“Absolutely.”

Melanie jerked her gaze back to the groaning rocks they clinked open. She gasped. Behind them, piece by peace, she saw an entire city beginning to stir. It was as if the city she had left had an antithesis, and it was here in the desert, behind two giant rocks. It was still dark, but every color imaginable slowly came to life as the rocks further and further spread.

Houses and shops lined the tan streets streaked with red. Green grass, yellow shutters, grey smoke spinning in the ever-lightening sapphire sky. 

“The sky! It’s blue. Does that mean?” she looked back at Joshua.

“Yes. The sun, you will see it in about,” he looked at his watch, “ten minutes or so. The sunrise is great. You will never forget your first one, as long as you live.”

Melanie knew then that truer words had never been spoken.

As she watched the rainbow of colors dance the dance of wakefulness as the bright yellow sun pushed them over the edges of the earth, she felt a heaviness in her chest.

It was hope, and it was settling in to stay.